Opening Up
by ComixFan1224
Summary: She knew this was a bad idea. Seriously, he was Oliver Queen and she...she was Felicity Smoak. Who in their right minds would believe they could ever really be in a relationship? Personal IT girl? Yeah, that fit. Girlfriend? ... (Cover by dhfreak06)
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Arrow. Characters, places, etc. (i.e. everything) belongs to Warner Bros. and DC Comics.

Chapter I

"Mr. Queen, this is ridiculous."

"Oliver or Ollie, Felicity. Mr. Queen was my father."

"I'm really very uncomfortable with this," Felicity told him, nervously drumming her fingers on her favorite clutch purse, "Is this façade really necessary. I mean, not that I'm not flattered – I am – I just think someone else would be more suitable for this role."

Oliver tilted his head to the side as he stared at her with those hard green eyes, which just added to her nerves. "There's no one better," he assured her, adding a dashing smile to try and ease her fears. "Just relax. You'll be fine."

Felicity took a breath and bit her tongue to keep herself from babbling. She didn't belong in this world, she thought – not for the first time in her still young life. With every day that passed, she felt more and more that she was living in some odd dream that she would soon wake up from.

Not too soon, she quietly hoped, glancing at the city's recently returned bad-boy-turned-vigilante from the corner of her eye. He seemed to be getting worse at keeping that secret, though, which was why she was here. In the expensive car. On her way to…

Well, it was one of the reasons. His breakup with Detective McKenna Hall was another. With that ending three months ago, and her being Quentin Lance's partner in the vigilante investigation, this latest incident did not help. So he told a lie that wasn't a lie. Not entirely, anyway.

He had been at Verdant and he had been with her for most of the night, and she and Tommy Merlyn hesitantly backed him up (Okay. Tommy had no problem with it, but lying to the police was not something she was very comfortable with. At all.) Of course, in her uneasy state, she'd begun to babble, which caused Oliver to try and quietly calm her by setting his hand on hers, which caught his ex-girlfriend's attention, and the immediate question of, "So, you two were…together?"

"Yes." Oh, how she wished she had paid more attention to the meaning behind the question faster. Of course, this brought on a round of shocked looks from everyone in the room, while she was the odd person out, still focused on trying to keep herself from getting caught in a semi-almost-not really-but lie.

Oliver had gotten over it first, pasted on a smile and explained shortly, "It's very new. We were hoping to keep it quiet for some time. You know how the press and paparazzi can be."

It hadn't clicked in her mind until Detective Lance narrowed his eyes at Oliver and directed a warning at the blonde tech guru, "You really think it's a good idea to be dating your boss, Miss Smoak?"

"I…" Oh God, she thought, glancing at Oliver while trying to hide her confusion. Luckily, the Detective seemed to have gone into some sort of zone before she could make a bigger fool of herself. Sort of.

"What am I saying? You'd clearly know better than me. You are the literal genius in the room." The agitated veteran cop ran his tongue over his teeth as he got to his feet. "You're free to go," he called over his shoulder, stomping out of the room. McKenna had followed him out of the interrogation room almost step for step, and understandably so.

Felicity turned to Oliver as he got to his feet. "What just happened?"

He held out his hand and helped her up, glancing at Tommy and Diggle as they left the room. Once she was to her feet, he set his hand at the small of her back and guided the confused computer genius out of the room. "You just told them we were dating," he whispered very matter of fact as they entered the bullpen.

"What?" Crap on a hat, she hoped she wasn't visibly panicking in that moment. "What are we going to do?"

"We'll figure it out later. Smile for the cameras right now."

"What cameras?"

The dozens of cameras that had been sitting outside of Starling City Police Headquarters, taking pictures, filming them, and shouting out questions about their new…"romance".

Somehow, between that moment and this one, Oliver had convinced her to keep this charade up. Which was why she was riding in the back of a town car that probably cost what she made in a year. Or twenty.

"Ready?" She looked up to see Diggle had stopped the car in front of the Merlyn Concert Hall. The paparazzi were primed for the couple's first public appearance, for what reason, she didn't know.

Yes, he was Oliver Queen but she…she was Felicity Smoak.

"I can't do this. I can't. This is…it's too much. Oh God! I think I'm going to throw up. Then stop breathing. Because…because you can't throw up without breathing right? Then again, when you throw up you are-"

Oliver took her hands in one of his large one and tilted her chin with his free hand, forcing her eyes to meet his. "Everything's going to be okay," he assured her calmly, "I'm right here with you. Just keep holding my hand and I'll make sure everything will be fine."

Felicity smiled and grasped his hand tightly.

She trusted him, she remembered as someone pulled his door open and bright lights began to shine inside the car. That was how he convinced her. He spoke and she believed him because she wanted to. No matter how bad the lie, she wanted to believe him, because…

Okay, so she still hadn't figured out the 'Why?' yet, but she knew how she felt. Sort of.

Sighing as he led her out of the car, her free hand immediately went up to shade her eyes from the lights flashing and glaring down at her, trying her best to smile and enjoy the ride. They walked toward the entrance at a pace too slow for Felicity's liking as she stayed close to Ollie's side, clutching his left arm like it was her lifeline.

As they made it through the entrance hall, Oliver whispered in her ear, "It's okay now. We're inside."

Looking around, she did not feel okay. She felt the opposite of okay. Everyone was watching them, judging them. Her, really.

Suddenly, she felt warm lips touch her cheek, taking her by surprise and forcing her blue eyes back towards the handsome billionaire holding her hand. He smiled at her shock. "You look beautiful. Don't worry we won't be here long. I promise."

She smiled in return, white teeth breaking through red lips, and squeezed his hand. "Before the intermission?"

"Long before. Dig and I already have a plan to get us kicked out."

Her eyes narrowed at his words. "Kicked out? I don't want to get booted for good, Ollie. I do come here for concerts that don't involve photog's and the rich and fabulous."

"It's just for the night. I'm going to get a phone call, it'll annoy some of the older members of the audience, and the usher escorts us out. Free and clear and no wanted posters to worry about."

"…I prefer being on the other side of these ridiculous situations."

He smiled. "Live a little."

A/N: I'm a little rusty, and not very good at romance fics, but this idea just wouldn't leave me alone.

This story will follow Felicity and Ollie's relationship as it evolves from attraction into love. I have a few chapters written up already, so I'll be posting maybe once or twice a week. Not sure if I really have the characters down yet, but I'm really just going where they take me. This is my first foray into the world of Arrow (though I am a fan of the comic version), so I hope you all enjoy it.

Thanks for reading! Please review!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Arrow. Characters, places, etc. (i.e. everything) belongs to Warner Bros. and DC Comics.

Chapter II

Oliver shifted the takeout bag and bottle of red wine to his left side before knocking on the door. Waiting, he glanced around the softly lit hallway, before picking up the sound of shuffling feet on the other side of the doorway. The peephole darkened and Ollie smiled before hearing the locks slowly – hesitantly – slip open.

Oliver grinned as Felicity peeked her head out, blonde curls falling across her face. "Uh, hey. Did we have an event to go to or something, because-"

"No, I just thought we could stay in and have some dinner." He held up the brown bag. "I brought red wine."

Felicity bit her lip before pulling the door all the way open and letting him in. Ollie stepped inside and glanced around her neat apartment as she closed and locked the door behind him.

"So, what are you really doing here, Mr. Queen?" the genius asked, walking toward her red couch. Her tablet was set up on the small wood coffee table with papers strewn about, and it was clear he had interrupted her work.

"Just thought you deserved a nice, quiet dinner away from all of the…insanity I've thrown you into. Nice shirt."

She glanced down at the red and orange comic character on her shirt before crossing her arms over her chest and clearing her throat. "It's Firestorm. He's – well, _they_ because it's actually two people sharing one body – and he has the ability to rearrange atoms in inorganic matter and transmute the atoms in an…" she trailed off under his stare, deciding to end with, "He's really cool."

"Sounds like it. What does 'transmute' mean?"

Felicity blinked. "Oh. Uh…"

"You know what? You can explain it over dinner," he told her, heading into her tiny kitchen. Pulling out the expensive bottle of wine, he uncorked it and began searching for two glasses.

Adjusting her glasses, she watched as he maneuvered through her kitchen, gathering plates and glasses before heading back into her living room and pushing her work aside so he could set everything down and start serving. "Oliver," she started as he started pulling still warm containers of food from the brown bag, "this is really nice and – Oh! Is that Fettuccine Alfredo? I love fettuccine alfredo!"

Oliver smiled as she immediately grabbed the plate and began pouring her a glass of wine as her brows knit together. "How'd you know I liked it? I don't remember telling you, or eating it in front of you. Not that I would just take out a plate of it and start-"

"I guessed." He pulled a few more containers from the bag. "I also brought veal parmesan, lasagna, and the classic spaghetti and meatballs. There's also garlic bread, breadsticks, and cannoli's for dessert."

Felicity blinked again, glancing at the coffee table that was usually covered in computers, tablets, and multi-colored cables now covered in cooling food containers as he finished setting her work to the floor. "Why are you doing this?"

The billionaire playboy tilted his head to the side. "To thank you," he explained shortly, turning his attention back to the container filled with spaghetti. "So…Firestorm, huh?"

"He's a hero."

"Probably a vigilante, too."

"He's got super powers and uses them to throw bad guys in jail. Not off of rooftops and into private pools."

"He should try my thing."

"Right, the Fear-of-God thing. People just love that."

Oliver grinned as they both began eating.

For the next two hours, Ollie ate and drank in silence as Felicity explained that transmutation was a word that originated between 1400 and 1450, before she went on to explain the history of Firestorm in detail.

He helped her set the dishes in the dish washer before getting his jacket and getting ready to leave.

"Thanks for this, Oliver. I had a lot of fun." She smiled softly, fingers fiddling at her sides.

"It's the least I could do. Especially with your life making front page news recently."

She nodded, looking at the door. "Yeah, but it's partially my fault. I mean, you were the one that almost got caught by your ex-girlfriend and other ex-girlfriend's dad in another lie, but I did add onto with my babbling. Which is what I'm doing right now and I promise I will stop in three…two…one."

Ollie leaned down and kissed her cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow," he told her, opening the apartment door and taking his leave.

Felicity felt her own traitorous fingers reach up to the cheek Oliver had kissed before shaking her head and sliding the locks on her door. "Too much wine," she muttered to herself as she began turning off the lights on her way toward her bedroom. "Way too much wine."

Across the street from the brick building, Ollie watched the lights from Felicity's apartment go out, before opening the back door to his car and sliding inside.

"How was your date, Mr. Queen?" Diggle teased as his dirty blonde haired employer shut the door.

"Very funny, Diggle. Drive me back to the club. I still have time to get a workout in."

Diggle smirked before shifting the gear into drive and pulling away from the curb. "You're the boss, Boss."

Oliver glared at him from the back seat.

"Giving her a break was a good idea," the bodyguard spoke up a few minutes later, glancing at his boss in the rearview mirror.

"Of course you think so. It was your idea. Just like this dinner."

"Don't think I didn't notice you smiling on your way out. Admit it. You had fun staying in, eating carbs, and bonding and with Felicity."

"…I have no problem with eating carbs. Just means I double our workouts."

Diggle frowned. "Sorry I mentioned that last part."

Ollie smirked and looked to the window before his cell phone started ringing. Reaching into his pocket, he saw it was Felicity and immediately answered. "Something happen?"

"My computer just blew up!"

"Turn the car around," he immediately ordered Diggle. "Back to-"

"No, no. I mean with information. News, really. There's been an escape at Iron Heights. Cyrus Vanch is on the loose. You had a run-in with him a few months ago-"

"I remember. Head to Verdant, Dig. I've gotta change."

Diggle took a sharp right at the next turn. "Maybe you should have an entire conversation before barking out orders. Gas is expensive."

"I'm paying for it."

"I'm on my way." Oliver glanced back down at the phone in confusion for a moment, before remembering he hadn't hung up on Felicity. "See you guys in fifteen."

Oliver stared at it for a few seconds, watching as the call ended and the screen went back into idle mode. "Fine." He shoved the phone back into his pocket, before looking to Diggle. "Leave me out front, park, then wait outside for Felicity and make sure she gets in alright. You guys come up with anything, I'll have my radio on."

The large bodyguard nodded, trying to get to the club as quickly as he could without receiving a ticket from the traffic cams. "Who are we looking for?"

"Vanch. If Detective Lance calls – which I doubt – let me know, but don't pick up."

"Going to check in with Laurel?"

"The last time Vanch was out, he kidnapped Laurel to get to me. I want to make sure it doesn't happen again. I'll probably run into the detective along the way. I'll also let Tommy know as soon as I get in."

Diggle nodded before arriving in the Glades. Five minutes later, he parked outside the former Queen Industries factory and let Oliver leave the car, before driving off.

Oliver walked right past the bouncers and into the club without a backwards glance, knowing it was going to be a long night.

A/N: Wow! I don't think I've ever had so many reviews for one chapter before. Thank you all so much!

While I personally love to write action stories, there won't be much of the Hood in this one. Mentioned a lot, with a few appearances here and there, but for the most part it follows Ollie and Felicity outside of the Arrow Cave for moments like this chapter.

For my wonderful guests/anonymous reviewers without accounts, I post a schedule of when I will be updating my stories on my profile, so be sure to check it out to see when the next chapter will be posted.

Thanks for reading! Please review!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Arrow. Characters, places, etc. (i.e. everything) belongs to Warner Bros. and DC Comics.

Chapter III

"Two nights in one week. I'm mildly impressed," Dig teased his employer as Oliver grabbed the take out bags from Carly.

"I wouldn't sound so surprised. You'll be eating with us. This concerns business," Oliver informed him, shoving the bags into Diggle's arms. "I'll be picking up Felicity. Take these to the club."

The former soldier rolled his brown eyes before turning his attention back to his girlfriend. "Why don't you all work here?" Carly offered, smirking at them. "You seem to hang around enough already, and with all the serious looks you give each other, I know it's not just because of my amazing burgers." She watched as both men glanced at each other, trying to be discreet, and succeeding in getting on her nerves. "If it's that top secret, I'll close up early for you, but John promised me a date tonight and I am holding him for dinner."

Diggle smiled and shrugged, already setting the bags back onto the countertop. In the war between work and girlfriend, he'd chosen the wrong side too often. He wasn't going to screw things up with Carly, especially since he'd cancelled three times in the past week already. She'd been understanding then, even busy herself, but tonight she was making the effort to try and make this work.

Luckily, it seemed the vigilante understood as he smiled and nodded. "Okay. Dinner."

"What are we doing here?" Felicity questioned her…"boyfriend" as he pulled his Bentley in front of a trendy Chinese/Japanese restaurant, thirty minutes after informing her they were going out for dinner. She glanced a little self-consciously at her simple little black dress, readjusting the bust before glancing out the tinted windows.

"You look fine. It's just dinner," he assured her, shutting off the engine and unlocking the doors so the valet could open them. "With Dig and Carly."

Her neck cracked from how quickly her head had turned to stare at Oliver, and her look of shock turned to a painful wince. He reached under her curtain of curls and massaged the area for a brief second before pulling away. "You need to stretch more."

Blue eyes glared into green, before the passenger-side door opened and the young valet extended his hand toward her with a wide grin. She put on her best smile in return as he helped her out of the sleek ride. The young man opened his mouth to say something when Oliver stepped between them and pressed the key into the cute college boy's hand, smiling, "Thanks."

Felicity let Oliver gently take her hand, staring up at him in obvious wonder. "I don't get you," she whispered, as they entered the bright and colorful restaurant.

"There's not a lot to get."

She giggled at his words, shaking her head ever so slightly. "You're a mystery Oliver Queen. I'm not a fan of mysteries."

Glancing at her from the corner of his eye, he saw she had that look in her eyes – the one she would get when he brought her something challenging to work on. "Better if you drop this one, Nancy Drew," he warned her softly before smiling at the hostess, who immediately led them to their seats in a secluded hibachi table.

"Not that I don't love Diggle – like a brother or dad, not love-love. Not that I would know what love-love was, or is, or," she caught herself and took a breath. "But, why couldn't we have just worked at the club like we planned?"

"Carly wanted to have dinner with him, and he's already canceled twice."

"Three times."

"We all eat, she gets a nice night out, then we get to work."

"Uh huh. And you couldn't let them have dinner alone, because…"

Oliver grabbed his napkin and opened it with a flick of his wrist. "Do you know what you'd like to drink?"

"I can order for myself, Ollie." Green eyes glanced over her shoulder as she squinted and frowned. "You know what I think? I think you want to use this as an apology. You don't want Diggle to ruin this relationship like you've ruined yours – making all the wrong choices – because you care. Because he's your friend, whether you want to admit it or not." She turned to the waitress standing behind her and smiled kindly. "Can we get some sake, please? Thanks."

Oliver watched as the tiny waitress bowed before leaving to retrieve their drinks, while Felicity kept on smiling and set her napkin in her lap, before picking up her glass of water and sipping it. She was clearly very confident she was right and he smirked softly, shaking his head. "I need to use the rest room. Be back soon."

"Okay." She watched him get up and walk away as their waitress returned with the tray of hot sake and two cups. "Sorry, we're actually going to need two more for our friends."

"Of course, Miss Smoak. Would you like anything else while you're waiting for you chef?"

"Spring rolls, if you have them already. I skipped lunch today and I'm really hungry." Her stomach growled in agreement, causing her to smile in embarrassment before she saw Oliver approach, readjusting his blazer.

He slipped into the seat next to her and moved calmly, pouring himself a cup of the warm sake, sipping it, resetting his napkin over his lap, and smiling at her as if he really had just gone to do his business in the bathroom. Except, she'd seen him heading back from the direction of the kitchen.

Leaning toward him, she was about to speak when Diggle's dangerously low voice practically growled from behind them. "Oliver." They turned to see the third and largest member of their team approach, his girlfriend smiling happily at the change of scenery.

"Dig! Glad you could make it. We've been waiting for you two," Oliver greeted the couple with his trademark charm and smile as the hostess pulled Carly's chair out for her. "I hope you're a fan of hibachi grilling, Carly."

"Thanks, Mr. Queen. Honestly, I've wanted to visit this place for a while, but reservations are hard for some of us to get."

"Know the right people. Shun Liao is a friend of my mother's, and our chef for tonight. He was able to get us in on such short notice."

"Now I know who to really thank. Hey Felicity," the diner owner smiled at the IT girl. "How're you holding up?"

Felicity glanced at Diggle to see he was still glaring daggers at Oliver, before leaning over to get a better look a Carly. "Good. How have things been at the diner?"

"Busy, but good busy."

"Business is booming, huh?"

"Well, it's summer, so the boost was anticipated. Having a few JustJared-style celebrities as regulars hasn't hurt either. How does it feel to have your every move uploaded for millions to see?"

"…Creepy. But for some reason, I still look myself up. Probably to get creeped out even more, since that's really what happens when I do. Like this morning, I got into work and by the time I made it to the fifteenth floor, one of my co-workers had some gossip sites homepage up and there were pictures of me, parking my car and entering the building." Felicity downed her glass and shook her head. "Never saw the cameras."

"How is that even remotely interesting? You're going to work, not streaking through the parking garage."

"I know. I can't believe someone made money off of that, but I want a cut." Both women laughed before Chef Liao arrived, grabbing their attention.

An hour later, Oliver helped Felicity back into his car before slipping a few dollars to the valet. Once he climbed into the driver's seat, he took off without a backwards glance. "There are speed limits for a reason, you know?" Felicity told him, blue eyes wide and hands clutching the strap of her seat belt as the speedometer hit eighty.

His hand remained relaxed on the steering wheel as he controlled the cars accelerated path. "You should have told me you were still being followed like that."

Her jaw dropped. "Excuse me? You really think stuff like this just dies down?"

"I've been involved in it enough to know there are lulls. Especially after other people out there do something stupid."

"Well, I'm sure someone else's sex tape will be released soon. Until then, maybe you could start sharing your "business" plans with the rest of us. I'm sure it will fill the time."

"Parties, dinners, things like tonight – I understand that, but not your job. Not right now. They had that when we first started."

"You used this whole thing to do something. You didn't go to the bathroom, unless there's one in the kitchen that the rest of us don't know about. And honestly, I don't want to because that seems very unsanitary. And, Dig spent the whole night glaring at you. What did you do?"

"Gathered information on Vanche. Triad's after him too. Apparently he stole money from them earlier today."

"So this whole double date wasn't to make things up to Diggle and Carly, but so you could scare some paper pusher into giving you intel? I can't believe you used him like that. No, actually, I can since I recall you did the same thing with Tommy not too long ago."

"I treated them to dinner at a nice restaurant, got intel on Vanche, and got a plus in Carly's good books. I don't see the problem."

"Which is exactly the problem. You're mixing business with pleasure and missing the little things. Things that matter."

Oliver pulled to the side of the road, gaze softening as he looked from the windshield to an annoyed Felicity. "…You matter. So do Dig and Tommy and my family," he told her softly. "And yeah, I do that a lot, but I'm trying to protect everyone from something bigger than-"

"The little things. I know, but you're losing yourself to it. The part of you that could just spend time with friends, catching up over a quiet dinner and maybe a movie, and just relax."

"I lost that part of me a long time ago."

She crossed her arms over her chest and stared him right in the eyes. "It didn't seem that way yesterday. Obviously, the whole thing was Diggle's idea, but it seemed like…like you were enjoying yourself. Even though I did most of the talking."

"I did."

"Oh." Looking down at her lap, Felicity lowered her arms and began picking at a loose thread at the bottom of her dress.

Oliver kept his attention focused on the quiet street around them before pulling the car away from the curb slowly. "My mother asked me to invite you to dinner this Friday," he told her, being sure to maintain the speed limit. "She wants to get to know you outside of the events we've been attending together. I told her no." He noticed her release and small breath in apparent relief. "Figured you'd be uncomfortable with that. Just be sure to do the same if she tries cornering you."

"Except she's my boss. I can't just tell her no and expect to keep my job."

"You can. Your job's safe."

She looked at him, a soft smile lifting her lips, before she forced herself to look away.

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! We haven't seen Carly much in the show, so I hope I got her character right. Thanks again to all my lovely reviewers so far for their kind words.

Thanks for reading! Please review.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Arrow. Characters, places, etc. (i.e. everything) belongs to Warner Bros. and DC Comics.

Chapter IV

Thea Queen snapped her fingers in front of her brother's face, pulling him back to reality. He took a sharp breath, realizing he had zoned out again, and smiled apologetically at his little sister. Thea rolled her blue-green eyes before picking up one of her French fries from the red basket between them. "So, how're things going with IT girl?"

"Felicity, and they're going fine," Oliver answered shortly, silently signaling Carly for the check.

"You sound _so_ in love," she teased, smiling at Carly as the diner owner dropped off their check. "A lot different from the looks you usually give her." She laughed at the look her brother sent her as he reached for his wallet. "Check yourself in the mirror sometime. You get soft around her. Dare I say, vulnerable even?"

Throwing down a few bills, the club owner got to his feet. "I'll walk you back to work."

"Trying to avoid the subject is not going to help."

"I'm not avoiding anything, Thea. Your lunch break is almost over and I doubt Laurel would be happy if you came in late. Again."

Thea picked up her purse with a shrug and slipped past him, before walking out the door of Big Belly Burger. She glanced up at the grey sky before turning to see her brother leaving the diner. "I like her. She makes you smile. Really smile," she informed him as they began the trek back to CNRI on foot.

"I smile," he replied, gently elbowing her side and smirking.

She shook her head. "Genuninely. Plus, she's not a fan of your complete crap, so she ranks high on my favorites list. Points off for her style, though. Makeup's not bad, but she needs to start wearing her hair down more often."

"She looks great the way she is."

"Now you're being generic. She needs more variety if she's going to keep hitting parties with us. She's worn that gold dress three times already."

"Twice."

"I'm counting earlier this year, as well," she told him, stopping at a street corner as traffic started up. "Didn't know you paid so much attention, though." Thea grinned as he looked away from her. "You want to keep her, you better communicate."

Ollie glared down at his little sister, shoving his hands into his jeans pockets. "Since when have you taken an interest in my love life?" he asked as they began walking again.

Shrugging, she answered, "Around the same time you became interested in mine. Except I'm trying this thing called "being supportive". You should take notes."

Ollie rolled his eyes as they stopped in front of CNRI. "I'll have Diggle pick you up later."

"Nice comeback, bro. I'll call if I'm staying late. Have fun with Felicity." Leaning up, she kissed his stubbled cheek before walking up the steps to work.

Oliver ran a hand over her dirty blonde hair after making sure his sister entered the building. Pulling out his cell phone, he called Diggle to pick him up as he continued walking down the street.

Ten minutes later, Dig pulled the black Audi to the side of the road. The young vigilante opened the door and climbed inside. "Where to, sir?" When Ollie didn't answer immediately, Dig glanced back in the rearview mirror to see Oliver staring thoughtfully out the window. "Oliver."

"Hmm. Oh. Back to Verdant. We need to stay on Vanch."

"He's been laying low since the incident with the Triad. Staying hard to find."

"Doesn't mean there isn't someone out there who doesn't know where he is. We just have to find out who." Ollie's jaw tightened as he glared out the window. "Even the Bratva doesn't know where he's been hiding right now, and there's very little that happens on these streets that they don't know about. So, he's planning something, and when he's ready to follow through with it, he'll let us know."

"But you'd like to know what it is now."

"Always good to have a leg up, Dig."

"Can't argue with you on that. Counting the guards at Iron Heights, he's killed eighteen people since his escape." Dig parked in front of the nightclub, shutting the car off as Roy Harper opened the door for Oliver. Their mutual boss took off for the club as Dig got out of the vehicle. "We'll be in for the rest of the night, kid."

Oliver stopped halfway through the entrance and turned back to his bodyguard. "No, you won't." Turning to the dark-haired young man, he ordered, "Park it close," before turning back into the club.

Diggle sighed before tossing Roy the key and following his boss into the building. "Where am I going?" he asked Ollie as they passed by the dance floor.

"You've got to pick up Thea after work. She'll let us know if she's running late."

"Gotcha. What about Felicity?"

"She'll stop in after work, as usual." Oliver entered the manager's office to see Tommy going over the books. "Hey buddy. How's everything?"

Tommy looked up from his laptop and grinned. "Looks like all of your investments are about to pay off. Open only a few months and we're nearly out of the red."

Oliver grinned and clapped his friend on the shoulder. "Only thanks to all of your hard work. I'm probably going to be out most of the night, but if you need anything…"

Tommy nodded in understanding, focusing back on his computer as Oliver opened the door to his secret cave. He watched from the corner of his eye as the door closed behind Diggle. Standing up, he left the office to oversee the staff and handle last minute adjustments before they opened.

A few hours later, he saw Felicity come through the doors looking slightly haggard. "Whoa! Someone had a day," he joked as she walked past him, glaring. "Get in a fight with your computer?"

"No. Just a crap hat day all around."

Tommy quirked a single black eyebrow. "Crap hat?"

"I try not to curse."

"I've noticed." He motioned to the bar. "You know, one of the perks of being the owner's girlfriend," he winked, "is free drinks. Want me to grab you something?"

Felicity chewed her bottom lip. "Rain check? Day's really not over yet."

"Whenever. Bar's not picking itself up and running away. Just let one of the bartender's know," he assured her before turning to get back to work. "Don't push yourself too hard, okay?"

She smiled at his retreating form before heading to the cave's secret entrance. Descending to the Hood's lair, she could hear the soft murmur of Ollie and Diggle's voices echo off the high walls. "What's going on?" she asked as she entered the room, noticing Diggle was slipping his blazer back over his shoulders.

"A lot of posturing," he answered as he walked past. "I have to go pick up Thea. Oliver's going to train with you while we wait."

She turned to see Oliver was already hard at work, performing single-handed pushups of the cool floor. Forcing her gaze away from his glistening back, she threw her bag onto of the tables and began searching through it for her contacts. "No pull ups tonight?"

Getting to his feet, he smirked at her. "I was waiting for you to get here. I know how much you enjoy watching."

Ducking her head to hide her blush, she began pulling random items from her messenger bag. "I-uh-I need to find my contacts. I know they're in here somewhere. I've practiced in my glasses before, but they're such a pain, you know? Well, you probably don't since you don't wear glasses-"

He reached for her hands and stopped them. "I was actually thinking we work on that." Reaching out, he gently removed her glasses from her face and set them by her bag.

"You're a blob," she informed him, squinting as he gently pushed her back a few steps.

"Really? Here I thought I was mostly muscle. Guess I've got to work out more." He grinned as her cheeks turned red. "Chances are, you get in a fight, you won't have time to change and pull out your contacts. You need to use your other senses to basically feel out your attacker. Ready?"

"Sure."

"Go."

Felicity swung a fist in his general direction, only for him to catch it, spin her around, and pull her in close. "Lesson one: let them come to you. Your best chance, at this point, is to let them think you're helpless. Especially since you have no idea how close they really are until they've got you. Let them get in close so you can do more damage."

She licked her lips and tried to focus on what he was saying. "So…do I SING now?"

He leaned his head over her shoulder in confusion. "Huh?"

"Miss Congeniality? Sandra Bullock?"

"Been a long time since I've seen that movie. And you want to make sure you can make a clean getaway before you…SING. You'll only get one shot." He quickly released her and stepped away to create some separation between them. "Let's watch it. Then you can work on it with Dig when he gets back."

Felicity blinked. "…Watch what?"

"Miss Congeniality. It's not dark yet, so we've got time." He slipped her glasses back on for her.

"I thought we were going to train."

He turned and grabbed his grey t-shirt. "You look like you could use a laugh more. Rough day?"

Sighing and leaning back against the table, she replied, "You have no idea." Oliver pulled her chair over for her and motioned her to sit down.

"So tell me about it."

A/N: I hope everyone had a good and safe holiday weekend! Now that it's over, I'll be updating twice a week for the next few weeks so be on the lookout.

Thanks for reading. Please review and let me know what you thought!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Arrow. Characters, places, etc. (i.e. everything) belongs to Warner Bros. and DC Comics.

Chapter V

Sitting at her desk, Felicity's fingers flew across her keyboard, eyes focused on the dim screen in front of her. She muttered as she quickly read the screen, lost in her work.

"Excuse me." Felicity jumped in her seat at the unfamiliar voice, breaking out of her zone and forcing her to look up to the doorway. Detective McKenna Hall stood apologetically, her hand on the doorknob. "I'm sorry," Detective Hall started to say as she stood awkwardly, "I just…"

Felicity had been expecting a visit from the police. The Hood basically invited them with his tip the night before, since it looked like a Queen family event was going to be targeted. Again. She wasn't expecting the visitor to be her fake boyfriend's ex-girlfriend, though.

Pushing back her glasses, she smiled at the mahogany-haired woman who carried a gun and badge. "Hello, Detective Hall. May I help you with something?" the IT guru asked before biting her tongue to keep her babbling at bay.

McKenna took a deep breath before shutting the door and putting her hands on her hips. "I just came by to ask you when you started seeing Ollie."

Felicity's jaw dropped at the forward... No. It wasn't really a question, but it was a shock to the blonde. "I-I'm sorry. Caught me off guard. Obviously. I mean, I wasn't expecting to see you and yet here you are asking me about-"

"Miss Smoak," the young detective interrupted, glaring, "I know that you've been working with him for a while, closely. I just want to know if, while he and I were dating, you two were…fooling around."

"No, no, no. Absolutely not. Oliver was very faithful to you and I would _never_ do that to anyone. For anything. Honest. This," Felicity waved her hands around in the air as if she was trying to grab the words out of nowhere, "is all new. Very new. A month and a half, at most. It's uh…It's why we were trying to keep things low profile. That night was like our second date!"

McKenna sighed and fell into the chair across from the genius, her hard expression fading. "I'm sorry. I had to know and Oliver…really likes to keep his secrets."

Felicity rolled her baby blue eyes as she turned slightly in her chair. "I know. You need the jaws of life to get him to open up about anything."

"Right? And he's such a bad liar."

"Oh, the worst. When he was trying to help his sister a earlier this year, he gave me a syringe and told me it was filled with some energy drink that cured hangovers."

"Are you serious? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."

"I know. He comes up with some doozies."

They both laughed for a few minutes before silence filled the room. Not awkward an uncomfortable as it was minutes earlier, but a nice calm quiet. Then McKenna's brow furrowed. "Why'd he give you the syringe?"

The blonde immediately realized her mistake. "Oh, uh, he was hoping I could analyze it. Try and give you guys a leg up on locating the…Count – that was his name right? – that was producing it. It didn't work out like he'd hoped, which was why he'd tried meeting the guy, instead. And I had no clue what it really was; otherwise I would have reported it to the police. Swear."

McKenna shook her head and smirked softly. "I always loved how Oliver took care of Thea, but he really needs to just let us do our jobs." She slapped her hands against the arms of the chair. "Which sort of brings me to why I'm actually here."

"It wasn't to interrogate the new girlfriend and swap stories?"

The young detective laughed. "No. Sorry again. I just couldn't help myself, but no, that wasn't the reason. I came by to tell you that you might become target at tonight's charity event. We've received a few tips that the Queen's are targets, and with your new relationship with Oliver, it wouldn't be a shock if you become one of the hit man's targets." McKenna watched Felicity's eyes widen before she gulped and began to fidget. "Relax. We'll be at the event, undercover mostly, and we'll have teams set up on nearby rooftops. If you see anything or notice anyone suspicious, come find me or Detective Lance and we'll check it out, okay?"

Forcing a smile, Felicity nodded. "Okay. Yeah. I will remember to let you know."

Detective Hall stood and walked toward the door to take her leave. She paused as she grabbed the handle and turned back to see Felicity already nervously rearranging her desk. "Felicity," a few papers slipped from the techie's hands and onto the floor as blue eyes looked to the door. "Oliver won't let anything happen to you. Stick with him and you'll be fine," McKenna told her with a small smile before quietly leaving the room.

Felicity sighed, pushing her glasses back up her nose. "You have no idea."

Putting her palms to the edge of the desk, she pushed her chair back so she could pick up the papers she'd dropped, muttering to herself once again. As if nearly having her head blown off and surviving Huntress forcing her to hack into the FBI at arrow point wasn't bad enough. Now she could end up with a bullet or something between her eyes, thanks to whoever was foolish enough to try hunting the Queen's.

A few hours later, there was a knock on her office door before it was opened and Oliver and Diggle stepped in. "Ready to go?" Oliver asked as she grabbed her bag and keys.

"I guess I should be happy you knocked this time," she teased, shutting down her computer.

"Diggle's idea. Not very fond of it myself. Are you ready?" He was already dressed in a heather grey suit with a black shirt underneath, unbuttoned at the top as always.

Pulling her eyes back to his face, she smiled and nodded. "Yes. Ready as I can be. For a possible target anyway."

Oliver took her hand as Diggle smiled and opened the door for them. Calming, she followed Ollie out the door to prepare for the night. "You were able to find me a dress, right? I've already started running out. Unless I use the dress I wore for my old roommate's wedding, but it was a bridesmaid's dress and-"

"Thea picked one up for you. She loves shopping. I'm pretty sure she had Diggle model a few."

"Funny, sir. Very funny. My feet still hurt from trailing after her all afternoon." The blondes smiled at the vision of big, broad John Diggle following slight Thea Queen in and out of boutiques as they stepped into the elevator. "Glad to give you two a good chuckle. Dresses are in the car."

"Dresses?"

"Thea picked out a few. You're lucky she didn't buy you a whole new wardrobe. She put a sticky note on each one to let you know what to wear since Oliver wouldn't let her tag along."

Oliver just stepped out of the elevator once the doors opened. "If I let her come with us, she might have tried to make you her personal Barbie."

"She didn't have to buy me a few dresses. I only needed one. Then I could have just worn my other…elegant-ish ones again."

"It's no trouble," he assured her as Diggle opened the car door for them.

"Starting to feel like a Barbie doll, anyway," Felicity muttered as she climbed inside and saw a stack of dresses lying across the seat. "Holy crap!"

"Told you she picked out a few," Dig smirked before walking to the driver's side of the car.

Felicity grabbed the dozen hangers covered in plastic. "This is a few?"

"For Thea, it's nothing," Oliver told her pulling the door shut. "She said to make sure you wear the blue one on top, because it'll make your eyes pop." He glanced at the dress before looking back to her and nodding. "Felicity's apartment, Dig."

"On it, sir."

Felicity laid the dresses across her lap to keep them from wrinkling. "I doubt I'm ever going to get used to this."

"You should try. It might help."

She glared at Oliver before pulling out her phone and focusing on it for the rest of the ride.

A/N: I know McKenna's not on the force anymore, but this was all written before the Huntress Returns episode aired, and I just had so much fun writing this chapter, I decided to keep it in.

Hope you all enjoyed it!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Arrow. Characters, places, etc. (i.e. everything) belongs to Warner Bros. and DC Comics.

Chapter VI

He ran with a single thought in mind. No way!

No way was he going to hurt her.

The man was stupid enough to kidnap Laurel, even dumber to break out of prison, and attacking his family – he had no brain! But to take Felicity…

This was his own damn fault. If that psycho –

"Oliver," Diggle's voice came in strong through the receiver in his ear, "Felicity's tracker is still active. He hasn't found it yet."

"Just give me directions," the vigilante growled as he leapt to the next rooftop. Landing on his feet, he sprinted along the edge.

"Go left. They're slowing." He jumped to the fire escape of the next building and climbed down into the alley quickly. "Two blocks straight, then turn right and follow Adams for three blocks. They're still moving. I think they just lost their tail."

The man in the green hood turned once he was on Adams Street and passed the late night partiers in almost a blur.

"Take a right onto Papp."

"Where the hell is he taking her?"

Diggle remained silent on the other end, until, "He stopped. At Queen Consolidated."

The Hood grit his teeth before ducking into another alley, leaping back and forth between the walls until he reached the top and ran across rooftops, scaled nearby buildings, pulled out a line arrow, jumped and shot it toward his family's company. The arrow drilled itself into the side of the building, allowing him to swing into a window on the twenty-fourth floor, feet first.

If the police weren't alerted before, they'd sure as hell know now. "Cameras. Tell me what's going on."

"They're making their way up through the elevator. Guards on the ground level are down."

Kicking the office door open, he ran into the hall, boots not even squeaking against the polished floor. "Get down here with my suit." He had to take out Vanch before he harmed Felicity, get out, and get back to take her home.

Pushing open the doors for the first elevator shaft, he peeked in and listened. No movement. He moved to the next one, then the next. The cables were moving and the car was sliding up.

Leaping in, he grabbed onto one of the cables and slid down until he reached the top of the car. Without hesitation, he pulled open the emergency hatch, flipped inside and in front of the doors as Vanch pulled Felicity close, with a knife at her throat. "Let her go, Vanch."

The escaped convict smirked. "I don't think so… Do you have a name? I really hate addressing enemies improperly."

The hooded vigilante just kept his gaze on Felicity's wide blue eyes., arms locked at her sides by her captor. He was holding her too tight. Any movement and that knife would cut into her throat.

"What do you want with her?"

"She's my ticket to a clean record. What else would I need with a computer genius? Think of the possibilities."

"You really think you could kidnap her, force her to give you a new 'life' and get out of here alive?"

"I'm resourceful. You really think you can shoot me in this tiny space without her getting hurt in the process."

The Hood gripped his bow, still staring at Felicity who was clearly trying her best not to freak out. Her jaw was red. "Yes. Now!"

Felicity stomped her heel into her captor's foot, causing him to loosen his grip for a split second in pain. The archer fired an arrow right into Vanch's open right shoulder in that second, pinning him to the wall and causing him to drop his knife in pain. Felicity immediately stepped into the hooded figure's arms as the elevator came to a stop on the thirty-second floor.

"Looks like this is our floor. Unless you want to bleed out, I wouldn't try removing that," the vigilante warned darkly as he and Felicity stepped through the open doors.

As soon as the doors closed, he gently pushed her shaking body away. "Are you okay?"

"Y-y-yeah. I'm perfectly f-fine now. Honest. I'm just…shaky. Obviously, I'm shaking. I'm literally shaking and I just had a knife at my throat and saw three security guards get shot in the head and – Oh my God! One of them was Danny Winnik. He was supposed to retire this year. Danny was always so nice. He tried to help and-and they shot him."

"They?"

"Yes. Yeah. There are two more downstairs and it sounded like he had another car waiting somewhere with a driver inside."

The vigilante swore. "Okay Felicity, I need you to take a breath. We need to keep that elevator car from reaching the ground floor and keep everyone inside until the cops arrive. Can you do that from one of these computers?" She blinked. Once. Twice. "Felicity. Look at me." Blue eyes met green as he tilted her chin up gingerly. "You can do this."

Taking a breath, she nodded and looked to the nearest office. He kicked open the door and she followed him inside and booted up the computer. "Can't believe I left my tablet at the party," she muttered as she signed in and hacked the security system in seconds. He set his bow on the desk and stood next to her as she worked.

"I think that's probably for the best. Like you lying to him about which floor the IT department was located on," he told her watching as she shut down the power to the elevators two floors before Vanch's could reach the ground level. "Perfect timing. Lock the main exits and call the police. I'll be back in a few minutes. I'll take you home…okay?"

She nodded, fingers shaking as she worked them across the keyboard, trying to fend off shock. He took her hand in his gloved one, leaning close to whisper, "It's okay. Stay here until the police come and get you."

"Okay… Okay…"

"I'll be right back."

Grabbing his bow off the desk, he walked to the door, paused, and pulled an arrow from his quiver. Walking back, he took her hand and set the arrow in her palm before closing her fingers around it. "Stay beneath the desk. Don't speak unless spoken to. If they do ask for your, make sure they identify themselves. If they don't, use to the arrow to try to cut the ankle or leg."

He left then without looking back, taking the stairs to the third floor. Shoving open the third set of elevator doors, he dodged the knife Vanch immediately slashed at him with. The murderer had used his jacket to stop the bleeding on his right shoulder. Didn't mean it was actually healed.

Catching Vanch's left hand, he used his forearm to dislocate the kidnapper's elbow, forcing him to drop the knife in his hand, and then punched Cyrus's injured shoulder. Raising his fist, he punched him Vanch in the face, breaking his nose and knocking him out.

He jumped out of the elevator car and headed for the nearest window, jumping out with a rain of glass trailing him.

Starling City Police had already swarmed the area and started moving in. "Where are you, Dig?" he muttered as he slipped into the shadows, looking for the familiar car.

"I'm two blocks south of the main entrance. How's our girl?"

"Safe." Shaken. Pale. Cold. Going into shock. But she was safe.

Fifteen minutes later, Oliver Queen arrived at the scene and was standing impatiently by her as she gave her statement to the police as his mother spoke nearby with the company's head of security and a few other police officers on the scene.

As soon as Detective Lance was finished getting her statement, Ollie pulled Felicity into his arms, as he had wanted to do in that elevator, as she finally let the tears fall from her eyes. He gently pushed them away from her cheeks with his thumbs and stared into her swollen eyes, before leaning down and taking them both by surprise.

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. ;)

Thanks for reading! Please review.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Arrow. Characters, places, etc. (i.e. everything) belongs to Warner Bros. and DC Comics.

Chapter VII

Felicity woke up in a cold sweat.

Jumping out of her bed, she raced into her bathroom, turned on the tap, and splashed cold water onto her face. Nightmares were nothing new, she reassured herself silently. With time, they would go away.

"Felicity?"

"Oh my God!" She jumped back into a fighting stance, grabbing the closest thing in reach. "Stay back! I have a…stick of deodorant."

Oliver smirked as he stood in the doorway, expensive suit rumpled from sleep, green eyes alert and ready. Yeah, she could take him down _so_ fast. "Good to know you stay powder fresh."

"…I read somewhere once that the smell of powder can actually be very relaxing. And everything can be a weapon. Diggle taught me that," she muttered, dropping the deodorant back onto the counter before shoving her hands back under the running water to splash her face. "What are you doing here?"

"You asked me to stay."

That was right. She had asked him…as she clung to his very hard body and refused to let go. After he'd kissed her. _Really_ kissed her – not a peck on the cheek or lips like they'd been doing for the past month or so, for show.

"Right. I did. Yes, I did ask you and you clearly decided to stay. Thank you."

"How long have you been having nightmares?"

Glancing up at him in the bathroom mirror, she saw he was leaning against the wall behind her, watching carefully. "Nightmares? Well, the first one I think I ever had involved vampires. I was five or six and-"

"Felicity."

"…a few months now."

He looked away for a moment before turning and leaving the room. Shutting off the faucet and taking a shaky breath, she finally noticed her appearance in the mirror and made a soft noise of disgust. Her makeup was smudged, hair tangled, her dress was a mess, and her damn bra was killing her.

She looked like she woke up from a wild party, hungover and spaced out from drugs.

Making a face in the mirror, she shut the door and grabbed a hand towel and her makeup remover and began scrubbing her face clean. It was a good thing she'd been in a rush earlier – no – yesterday morning, and left her sweats in the bathroom.

A few minutes later, she stepped back into her bedroom to see Oliver sitting on the edge of her bed, brooding as only he could. His face was cast mostly in shadows, but his eyes gleamed brilliantly.

"This is over," he commanded with finality, refusing to look at her.

Her brows knit together as she sat next to him. "You're going to have to be more specific, because that is a very open interpretation and-"

"Everything. Our relationship – both personal and professional – is over."

"What? Why?"

He looked at her then. "Nightmares. Attacks. I shouldn't have brought you into this."

"You didn't. I-"

"I did. I brought you into this – before Walter even did. I put your life in danger. Unnecessarily. Then, I put your face out there to protect mine-"

"Right. Everything about me is out there for everyone like Vanch to see. So how will shutting me out help me now? I'm a genius with my name in the phone book and a Facebook account. Not to mention, this was my choice.

"I chose to help you. Until we find Walter. That's still my choice, whether you like it or not. So, try and break up with me or cut me off from the cave or whatever, but you can't keep me out. We both know you can't, so just stop. Stop." She fell back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling through bleary eyes. "Just go to sleep, Oliver. Just for tonight."

The bed lifted slightly at the loss of his weight and Felicity sighed and closed her eyes, curling up on her side. She opened them as she felt a cool sheet dropped over her body before the bed dipped again.

Turning over, she saw him lying beside her in her queen sized bed and smiled.

"What?" he whispered in the dark.

"Queen on a queen." She smothered her smile at his withering glance. "Sorry."

"No…I'm sorry. You were right."

"Well, I'm rarely ever wrong when it comes to these things."

He chuckled in the dark. "Anyone ever tell you how modest you are?"

"No, but I've been told I was amazing." Felicity shifted closer to him. "So…what are we going to do? About "us"?"

Oliver was silent for a few minutes, breathing even and calm. She looked up at him to see he was still awake, watching the ceiling. "What do you want to do?"

She leaned in closer and closed her eyes. "…It wouldn't look good if you dumped your girlfriend right after she'd been kidnapped by a murderer."

"No, it wouldn't. But I've never been someone who cared about reputation."

"Psh. Yeah, that's been made abundantly clear."

"So if you want to break up, it wouldn't matter. I'll take the blame and you get out of the public eye."

"It's really not that simple, Ollie. Do you even glance at the "news" section on whatever homepage you use? They have a lot of gossip stories on there."

He took a deep breath before shaking his head. "No. Not even a little."

"You are way too focused on that list."

"I have to stop the Undertaking."

"_We_ don't even know what it is and when we do stop it, what's next? What are you going to do when every name is crossed off and that other archer is…gone – in some capacity. Hopefully in jail for the rest of his life and not dead. At least by your hand. And maybe we should hold off on this conversation." She tightened the grip she had on her pillow, she screwed her eyes shut and buried her face into it.

Oliver watched her for a few minutes, knowing she wasn't asleep yet. "You think we'll stop it? The Undertaking?"

Felicity smiled into her pillow. "I know we will. We've got you."

Turning onto his side, he forced his body to relax and drifted into a light sleep.

A/N: The next few chapters follows up on everything. Yes, they kissed last chapter, but right now they're still caught up with her kidnapping. They've both got to deal with that before starting their relationship.

Thanks for reading! Please review.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Arrow. Characters, places, etc. (i.e. everything) belongs to Warner Bros. and DC Comics.

Chapter VIII

Oliver woke up with a warm weight on his chest. He did his best to keep his body relaxed as he opened his eyes to the bright morning sunshine and Felicity curled in his arms.

Reaching out, he brushed some of her blonde curls from her face. Then caught himself and began to move away before she tightened her grip around his torso, snuggling closer.

Rubbing a hand over his face, Ollie settled back for a few minutes as Felicity muttered in her sleep. Glancing at the clock, he saw it was past nine in the morning and blinked. On a normal day, he was up at six – six-thirty at the latest – and would work out and wash up before meeting his mother and sister for breakfast by eight-thirty.

Then again, nothing had been routine since he'd started "dating" Felicity Smoak. He'd been patrolling less and spending more time with her, and not even going out anymore. They'd stay at her apartment or have dinner at his place or the diner. He'd only been able to cross twenty-two names off the list in the last month and a half.

Slipping out of the bed, he walked back into her living room and picked up his suit jacket. Pulling out his cell phone from the left pocket, he scanned through the fifty or so missed calls (most from Diggle) and nearly two hundred text messages from his friends and family asking for an update.

He called Diggle first to let him know Felicity was all right and ask him to bring over an extra set of clothes. Thea was at work with Laurel, so he sent her a text to tell her he was staying with Felicity for the next few days, then called his mother.

"Felicity's fine," he assured his mom after she checked on him. "I was calling to ask about the security guards on duty last night. The ones that tried to help her."

"We're helping the family's with funeral arrangements. They were heroes and should be treated as such. Although we're also looking for a way to keep that…vigilante hood out. This is the second time he's broken into Queen Consolidated."

Oliver ran a hand through his hair as he licked his lips. He clearly remembered the first. "We should be sure the family's receive full-benefits. Especially Dan Winnik. I understand he was close to retirement, and we know what it's like to…" he trailed off with a slight cough.

He heard his mother's small sniffle on the other end of the line. "…Yes. Yes. Full benefits. I'll make sure of it personally. Wonderful idea, Oliver. Will you and Felicity be coming home tonight?"

"No. I think we're going to stay at her place for a few days. Keep a low profile, you know?"

"Okay. Be sure to let her know to take all the time she needs. I understand how…disorienting and horrifying this can be."

"I will."

"I love you, Oliver."

"Love you, too." He hung up the phone before dropping back onto the couch. His cell rang again not a second later. Glancing at the screen, he saw it was his loyal bodyguard and slid his finger along the answer button before putting it to his ear and whispering, "Yeah, Dig?"

"I'm outside."

"How is it?"

He could practically see Dig roll his eyes. "Packed with reporters. Not every day Oliver Queen's girlfriend gets kidnapped by a murderer and saved by the Hood. Ex-girlfriend's yes, but apparently they're not as interesting."

"Not funny, Diggle."

"You know what else isn't funny? That video the news has been playing of the Hood beating the shit out of Vanch before the police could pick him up. Sloppy."

Oliver swore under his breath. "Just find a way in," he ordered before hanging up.

"Sounds serious." He glanced at the bedroom doorway to see Felicity standing there, pulling her hair up into a ponytail, glasses slipping down her nose. "What's going on?"

"We're locked in for a while. Diggle says reporters are camped outside."

Felicity sighed before half-heartedly waving a hand in the air. "Yippee. Can't really say I'm surprised. I mean, convicted murderer kidnaps computer genius, breaks into Starling City's most prominent corporation, kills three people, then gets caught by the Hood…" She suddenly turned toward her tiny kitchen. "I'm a little surprised they didn't tail us back here. You want coffee? I don't usually drink coffee. Tea mostly. Coffee – even decaf – makes me jittery, but-"

"Coffee sounds great. I'm sure Dig will bring some breakfast up. I told him last night how barren your fridge is."

Breaking out her old coffee maker, Felicity started looking for fresh filters as she replied, "Good to know you've been interrogating my fridge."

"Petty theft is nothing compared to lack of food. Now that's a heinous crime," he joked as he got to his feet and grabbed the coffee pot in the sink. He gave it an extra rinse before filling it to the top with water and setting it on the counter for her as someone knocked on the door. "I'll get it."

He walked out of the kitchen and to her apartment door, glancing through the peephole, before unlocking and opening it. "Diggle. How'd you get in?"

"Front door. Easier for me then either of you," Dig told him, smirking as he stepped inside and handed Oliver a duffle full of clothes on his way to Felicity's kitchen. "Got a few things in there for you. Just in case." He lifted a plastic bag and set it by Felicity on the counter. "Carly also packed you guys breakfast and lunch. She said, if you need to talk, give her a call."

Felicity smiled and immediately hugged the large bodyguard. "Thank you Diggle."

"Anything for you, Felicity, you know that," he assured her, smiling in return. "How are you doing?"

"Well, I'd probably do a lot better if people stop asking me that. My cell is full of messages and I'm sure my inbox and Facebook wall are too. I haven't checked. Kind of scared to."

"It's alright. Relax," Diggle told her as he grabbed the coffee pot and gently pushed her back toward her living room. "Have a seat. Pick a movie. I'll get everything set – starting with a very tiny cup of coffee for you. Thimble-sized."

She smiled softly, wrapping her arms around her body as she sat on her bright red couch. Oliver set his bag behind the couch before sitting next to her and grabbing one of the remotes on the coffee table. "That's for my PS3," she told him, blue eyes sparkling as he dropped it and grabbed another. "Xbox."

He dropped the second remote on the cherry wood table and leaned back into the couch as he stared at her. "You think this is funny, don't you?"

"Yes."

They both laughed as Diggle re-entered the room with three cups of coffee. "So…" he trailed off, smiling happily at the two blondes sitting on the couch.

Glancing at each other for a moment, they turned their confused eyes back to their faithful friend. "So…what?" Felicity asked as she stared up at him. Diggle glanced between them, clearly trying to silently ask them something.

"Spit it out, Dig," Oliver ordered, grabbing a mug full of black coffee.

The old soldier rolled his eyes. "Are you two official now or what?"

He watched as Oliver and Felicity glanced at each other again before the young billionaire got to his feet and grabbed his bag. "I'm going to take a shower. Keep my food warm."

They watched Oliver disappear into the bedroom before Diggle cleared his throat. "Well…I'll just grab the rest of the food."

"Why does he do that?" Felicity shook her head, "I mean, I know why he does it, but… He starts to show some actual emotion, realizes it, and shuts down. It's not healthy, Diggle."

"Ollie's not the picture of perfect mental health, Felicity. I doubt he ever will be."

"I know, I just…" she took a breath. "I'm confused."

Diggle set a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I doubt you're the only one."

She rubbed her temples. "Right now it feels like it. I can't tell what he wants, and he's being so nice. Not that he wasn't nice before, but he also used to yell at me before, and when he did, at least I knew he was honestly frustrated or angry. I could read him better, I guess." Shaking her head, she tucked her legs under her and grabbed one of the cups of coffee. "Now, I don't know what he's thinking or why…why he kissed me last night."

Diggle watched as she took a sip of her coffee before making a face and setting it down, looking sheepish. "Wrong mug." He chuckled before going to put together their breakfast.

A/N: Updating very early today for my sister! Still reeling from the aftermath of Vanch kidnapping Felicity, but don't worry, Friday's update will make everyone very happy campers I'm sure. Until then, I hope you enjoyed some Team!Arrow interaction and love.

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Thanks for reading. Please review.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Arrow. Characters, places, etc. (i.e. everything) belongs to Warner Bros. and DC Comics.

Chapter IX

"Haven't seen Felicity in a while," Tommy said as Oliver entered the main office, slamming the door shut behind him. "She doing okay?"

"Yeah. Went back to work last Monday."

"Really?"

Oliver looked at his oldest and best friend. "I thought you wanted to be kept out of this."

Tommy crossed his arms over his chest and watched his friend and boss pace the room. Oliver always visited the Manager's office, stayed for a half hour to forty-five minutes, then Tommy would hit the floor and by the time he got back, Ollie would be gone. The pacing was new. Another side of Ollie he hadn't seen before.

Another thing he wasn't sure of.

Setting his payroll sheets down, Tommy stood and buttoned his black blazer. "You're right. And yet, somehow, I still keep getting dragged in deeper and deeper. So does she."

Ollie glared at his best friend. "You think I don't know that. You think I want to put my friends and family in danger. There's a reason I wear the hood and it's to avoid all of this."

The dark haired man watched as his friend struggled to rein in his emotions and grinned cheekily. "Oh my God. You're hot for Smoak. You're Smoak-ing. You're-"

"Shut up, Tommy. You don't know what you're talking about."

"The hell I don't. Only time I've ever seen you care so much about a girl you weren't related to was with Laurel. Face the facts, buddy, you're in it deep. Just don't mess it up this time." Tommy shook his head and left the room to Oliver.

Ten minutes later, Ollie joined Diggle downstairs where the music couldn't be heard and there were less bodies to maneuver around. There were also more things to hit.

"Everything going well between you and Felicity?" Dig immediately asked, looking up from the computer monitors. Oliver grunted as wrapped his hands in preparation to attack a few of the dummies. "Take that as a no. It's been over two weeks, Oliver."

"Right. I don't understand why people keep asking me questions they know I won't answer."

"Well, we don't understand why you keep avoiding the answer," Diggle shot back, turning his gaze back to the monitors in front of him. "You were letting her in and – as soon as something happened to her – you shut her out. She's been through worse than a few weeks ago, too, so don't give me some spiel about her safety. It's bullshit.

"If you can't be honest with the rest of us, at least be honest with her. It's the least she deserves."

Oliver just remained focused on his combinations and breathing. Left jab. Right hook. Left hook. Right jab.

He cycled through the punch combination a few times before settling on, "She deserves a lot better. Photog's still won't leave her doorstep. It's like they're waiting for the next time she gets kidnapped."

"Or the next time you two make out in public," the bodyguard smirked.

"Not funny."

"Not really joking. It's one of the most Googled images of the week, month, and year so far. Looks like love in action."

Oliver stopped his attack and rubbed at his unshaven jaw. "It wouldn't work. I don't work with anyone."

Diggle shrugged his broad shoulders and leaned back in his chair. "No, Oliver. If you could work things out with anyone, my money would be on Felicity."

"Why do you think that?"

"She knows the real you," Diggle replied after a few moments of silence to choose his words. "More importantly, she makes you want to be better, whether you realize it or not. I mean, you did go back to beat the crap out of Vanch, but you held off until after you got Felicity away from him, and you didn't kill him. Despite how pissed you were."

Oliver ground his teeth. "He hit her. He deserved worse."

Diggle clenched and unclenched his fists. "I'm not going to disagree with that. He's a killer, but he's not why you're off your game.

"Talk to her Oliver. You don't want to share with the rest of us, you don't have to. We'd appreciate it, but we can't make you tell us what happened to you. If you want to be with Felicity, you gotta talk to her, open up to her. Let her understand you more. Right now, you're not off to the best start."

Grabbing his bow and quiver, Ollie moved to stand next to Diggle as he stared down his target at the far end of the room. "I'm not trying to start anything. It's all an act, remember?"

Reaching back into his quicker, he grabbed an arrow and knocked it onto his bowstring. Lining up his shot, he pulled back on the string and held…and eased it forward. Setting the arrow back in its place, Ollie walked over to his trunk and pulled out his leather uniform and infamous hood. "I'm going out. Cover for me."

"Sure. What else am I good for?"

"Plenty. Can't think of much right now, but I'll be sure to make a list."

"You can take your time. I'm salary so I get paid no matter what."

"That's good to know. I'll remember that after I finish my list."

Diggle grabbed his suit jacket and began pulling it on. "I'll sneak you out the back now. That way I can get home in time to read my nephew a story."

Oliver threw his expensive button-up to the ground before turning to Dig. "You're not going to stay on the computers and keep me updated?"

The large man laughed and shook his head as he continued toward the stairs. "We both know where you're going."

Felicity had no idea how she used to do it. It seemed like another life – another person – was able to walk through the apartment door every day, kick off her shoes, maybe enjoy a glass of wine to take the edge off, and relax before hitting the sack.

Of course, in that life, she wasn't dating the boss, getting threatened by thieves and convicts, training her body to deal with those threatening situations, or…nearly as exciting as it was now. Despite the cameras that were now following her everywhere she went (she seriously had to tramp down on her morbid curiosity and stop Googling herself), but the upside outweighed the down.

Now, she was always busy, got to constantly see Ollie without his shirt, help the city, shirtless Oliver, didn't have to put up with Ollie and Diggle's horrible lies, had an excuse to avoid dreadful blind dates her family and friends used to set her up with. Oh, and Ollie's sexy upper body. Mmm.

"Felicity." She jumped up from her spot on the couch to see the object of her recent daydream standing three feet from her in his…leather outfit.

"Oh my God! Stop doing that! How do you – No. No. I don't want to know. I mean, I do. But I don't. I mean – " She pinched the bridge of her nose and took a breath. Upon releasing it, she looked up at him and smiled. "What are you doing here? Need my help with something? Anything?"

He glanced around her apartment before locating her nearest box of tissues and grabbing one. "I have makeup wipes, if you…need…them…" she trailed off as his green eyes narrowed at her. "Sorry. It just works better than a plain tissue at removing green paint. Not that I've tried putting green paint on my face and then clean it off. Do you usually use tissues? How do you keep the paint from getting into your eyes? I had some paint splatter into my eyes once. It hurt a lot. Of course it hurt a lot. It's paint. It's not the reason I wear glasses either, my vision just naturally sucks."

"Your vision's fine." He closed his eyes as he wiped at the makeshift mask, smudging it over his face. She giggled as the paint smeared over his cheek, the cheap tissue sticking to the side of his face, before reaching out to grab it. "Maybe I'll try one of those makeup thingies."

"How do you usually take that stuff off? The face paint. Not your clothes."

He smirked as he watched her disappear into her room, her cheeks tinged pink. "Hot water, face towel, and an hours worth of scrubbing depending on how dry its gotten."

Felicity stepped back into the room and handed him a re-sealable plastic packet. "See how those work for you."

"Thanks."

"So…" she shuffled her feet, "What are you doing here? I figured you'd be out on patrol or something. Need my help?"

"I actually just came here to…" he coughed to clear his throat, "talk."

"Really?" she asked, taken aback as he sat down on her couch, using the moist towelette to wipe away the dark green streak across his eyes. "You want to talk? You obviously have the ability, but you've always seemed more like the brooding bad boy."

Ollie tossed the wet nap in the bin across the room with an easy flick of the wrist before removing his gloves. "I've decided to try something new. To, uh, share my thoughts and stuff. With you. Just you."

"…Any specific reason you want to share your "stuff" with me?"

He cleared his throat and took a breath, not looking nearly as intimidating and sure of himself as he usually did. In fact, Felicity thought watching him with ever-curious blue eyes, he looked really vulnerable. Oliver Queen and vulnerable should not be in the same sentence.

"I trust you… I like you. I want to be with you," he confessed softly, staring down at her coffee table as he searched for the right words, "And, surprisingly, you're the only one who has never asked me to open up about what happened on the island. Every other day, someone is asking – at least once – about it, but not you."

"Yeah, well, I always kind of figured you'd talk about it when you were ready."

"Thanks."

"Mmm hmm."

Felicity fell beside him on the couch, gnawing at her lower lip. Minutes ticked by in surprising silence before Oliver spoke again. "I'm not really sure how to start this."

Releasing her lip from between her teeth, she quickly replied, "Me either," before returning it to keep herself from babbling.

Ollie leaned back and rubbed his bristled jaw, knowing Felicity was watching him from the corner of her eye. "I like when you babble." Turning to look at her, he smiled at dropped jaw. "It's cute."

"Really? Because I always assumed people – including you – found it annoying."

"Sometimes."

"Sometimes?"

"Sometimes."

"Well, you're not Mr. Perfect yourself," she huffed.

"I've always been on the far side of perfect."

"You're really horrible at this "stuff", you know that? Of course you do, but still, a backhanded compliment is not the way to start a new relationship. It's the opposite. It's the way you get smacked or have a drink thrown at you."

Scooting a little closer into her personal space, he reached out for her hand. "So, you are interested in starting a new relationship?"

Felicity watched as he gently took her hand in his large, rough, and deadly ones. Looking up to meet his eyes, she swallowed nervously, "Maybe…"

"Maybe what?"

She leaned in closer to him, setting her free hand on his right cheek, stroking it gently with her thumb. In this moment, she didn't see the hardened soul, the deadly edge, or the silent fury he seemed to never let go of. He was letting it go – _trying_ to – and letting her see the sorrow and heavy weight he carried, and she smiled before closing the gap between them.

Intense. Focused. Accurate.

He kissed like he trained, like he fought. He kissed her with everything he had and challenged her to do the same until they pulled apart, completely out of breath and exchanging dopey smiles.

"Wow. That was…wow."

Oliver smiled down at her, setting his forehead against hers. "Here I thought you'd have something more to say." He laughed when she pushed at his chest and tried to glare at him, failing miserably at both actions.

"Just shut up and do it again."

A/N: Let the celebration begin! They're officially official!

Last chapter, one of my amazing anonymous reviewers **Sosure** asked me what comes next? Well, we've caught up with all of my buffer chapters, so updates aren't going to be coming as fast. Sorry about that. However, the next few chapters will be longer because I'll have had more time to work on them before posting and I'll keep writing this story as long as I continue receiving ideas to move it forward.

To my **Guest** reviewer who just reviewed chapter 5 yesterday (not sure if you're the same one who's been reviewing the story so far), as far as Felicity's Characterization is concerned, I don't think she's going "belly up" when being accused by McKenna, as much as she is being taken by surprise by everything that's happening all at once. McKenna isn't necessarily being hostile to her, as Oliver can be when he's angry and shouting, she 's curious to know and Felicity does defend herself by saying she would never be the other woman, etc. In the show, everything happens in a slower pace for her. She helps Oliver for a few months, not knowing his secret, then she finds out, learns everything, and is slowly incorporated into the team, starting off with just monitoring, then training, and soon she'll be out in the field. This story is only canon up until before the Huntress Episode, though because obviously I wasn't sure where her character was going.

Anyway, I've also got some ideas for another Arrow-fic more in my genre (Action/Adventure), my own version of a possible Season 2 while we actually wait for season 2 over the summer. Once I start working on that, this story will probably go on hiatus. I hope all of you will follow that as well!

Thanks for reading! Please review!


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Arrow. Characters, places, etc. (i.e. everything) belongs to Warner Bros. and DC Comics.

Chapter X

"So, I've been thinking…" Felicity looked up from the book she was perusing as Thea Queen entered the bright living room. She glanced around the large room of Queen Manor to see if the eighteen-year-old was speaking to anyone else. One of the maid's was still dusting the bookcases, and hadn't even cast a glance their way as the mahogany-haired heiress approached. "Yes, I'm talking to you, IT Girl," Thea said, rolling her eyes and slipping onto the leather couch in front of Felicity. "Anyway, I've been thinking, with all the crazy stuff that's been going on, you deserve a luxury day."

Felicity laughed out loud, then immediately bit her tongue upon seeing her boyfriend's sister stare at her seriously. She coughed before telling the younger girl, "Sorry. Understatement, y'know? I mean-"

"Spa day. Yes or no?" Thea interrupted, picking up a magazine off the coffee table, her slim fingers already flicking the pages.

"Well, I'd love to. Not often I've been able to go to the spa lately, but Oliver and I have plans today. I'd be more than happy to-"

Thea smirked. "Just keep Saturday afternoon open. I'll snag us an appointment at Bennet's."

"Bennet's Beauty Spa?"

"There's only one. I'll call you later with the details."

"Details about what?" Oliver questioned as he entered the room in a plain white tee and jeans.

Thea continued to flip through the magazine, looking down at it for the first time since she picked it up. "Girl stuff. What're you all dressed up for? Trip to the soda shoppe?"

"We're taking a ride," her brother answered simply before turning his gaze to Felicity. His eyes quickly scanned her appearance, the ends of his mouth lifting slightly. "You ready?"

Felicity snapped the old hardcover shut and moved to return it to its proper place on the bookshelf. "Yeah. Where are we going?"

"For. A. Ride." The genius rolled her eyes. "Glad you wore jeans. We're taking my bike."

"Really?" the blonde grinned, slipping the book back into its still vacant slot. "I've never ridden before. A motorcycle, I mean. I did have a bike when I was younger. Actually, I was twelve when I learned to ride my first two-wheeler. I was very attached to my training wheels." She took a breath and noticed her boyfriend and his sister were wearing the exact same look: strained smiles that were barely containing their laughter. "I'll go wait in the garage."

Oliver said goodbye to his sister before following his girlfriend out of the house and to the garage. "Could've gone through the house you know."

"Why, when it's such a beautiful day?"

"And you don't know the way."

"I got lost in a museum once, not that your house is a museum, but it was a museum on constellations that I stopped at. The room was humongous and made you feel like you were actually standing in space, among the stars," she smiled wistfully, her pace slowing unconsciously. "I think I stayed in the room for an extra two hours, trying to find every constellation. My class had moved on without me and none of us noticed until I was done and couldn't see anyone I recognized."

"Must've been scary."

"It was. Got worse when I was trying to look for help. I ended up everywhere _except_ the front entrance. A security guard finally found me and brought me back."

Oliver grunted as they entered the garage and walked to his favorite motorcycle. He grabbed his keys and two helmets from the rack on the wall near the bikes. Holding out the shiny black helmet, Felicity took it with a smile, leaning in close. "If I ask you where we're going again, will you tell me?"

"You want me to ruin the surprise?" he teased in return, slipping onto the sleek custom-built motorcycle.

"I think I've had enough surprises this year, and it's barely even half over." Felicity slid into place behind him, pulling the helmet over her curly locks before wrapping her arms around his hard stomach.

Oliver nodded. "Okay. We're just going to take a drive down the coast and wing it."

"Sounds like you put a lot of thought into this date."

"All of five minutes. Ready?" He felt her chin bump his shoulder in a silent nod before he revved the engine and peeled out of the garage and down the long driveway of his family's mansion. He felt her arms tighten as he increased speed and pulled onto the highway, cutting in and out of traffic, and driving away from Starling City.

"Wow! That's a rush," Felicity exclaimed two hours later as Oliver stopped along a quiet bluff overlooking an empty beach and the patient Pacific. "I feel flushed. Do I look flushed? I think I'm starting to understand why people like convertibles, not that I have enough money to own one, but when I lease is up on my car, maybe I should-"

"You don't like the bike?"

"No. Yes. A little. Right now, I still prefer four wheels to two," Felicity stumbled off the bike, pulling off her helmet and nearly falling back onto the grass if Oliver hadn't grabbed her by the elbow to steady her.

He smirked as she finally jerked her helmet free. "Not a good place to be multitasking," he told her, swinging his leg around so her was leaning against his motorcycle before pulling his own helmet off. "Wanna go play in the water?"

"I didn't bring a suit with me." Then his words clicked and she bit her lip before he could add anything. "Pass." He tilted his head to the side, eyebrows raising as he silently conveyed another question to her. "For now."

Oliver took a breath and nodded before pulling off his boots and rolling up his jeans. "Alright. Just the beach, then."

"That sounds nice." Slipping off her sneakers and socks, she set them by his own before he took her hand and walked her down the bluff and to the sun-warmed sand. "Wow. I like it out here. Nice and quiet. Nothing but sun and sand and the waves."

He nodded, watching the water climb toward their feet before quickly retreating after touching their toes. "This is very cheesy, you know?" she continued as they walked down the beach, smiling and holding hands. "Who knew Oliver Queen was so cheesy?" He laughed and shrugged, not sure what to say.

Except he knew what he wanted to talk about, he just wasn't sure how to bring it up. So, instead, he listened as she told him about her first trip to the beach. How she'd reached out for a baby jelly fish and felt its sting and feared venturing into salt water even years later. She would have gone on, if he hadn't finally stopped walking and sat in the sand, gently tugging her down with him in a silent request before releasing her hand.

Her big blue eyes blinked at him curiously, but before she could voice her question, he took a deep breath of sea air and told her, "I went on a trip to Iron Heights when I was younger. Don't really remember it. Couldn't when I faked a lie detector test when I got back." Oliver sighed as Felicity forced herself to remain quiet, understanding what he was trying to do. "Laurel knows I faked it. Hasn't connected the dots yet, but it's something to look out for."

He watched the water, body rigid, emerald eyes lost in a memory far away as his girlfriend watched him struggle in silence. She may not have known him long, but she knew him now. He wanted to share something – something emotionally painful – but wasn't sure how without showing some of the emotion. He wanted to keep that part bottled inside, like he'd done for over five years now.

Eventually, he decided to just spit it out. "My father shot himself in front of me." Felicity felt her jaw drop on its own accord and couldn't contain the gasp that escaped, before snapping it closed again as he continued on quietly, "Actually, he killed our Captain first, told me to right his wrongs, then shot himself in the head and left me in a raft with the dead body, drifting in the middle of nowhere.

"I was so scared and confused and…" he fisted his hands, then flexed his fingers a few times, "It was only the beginning of it all, but it just seemed to be getting worse and worse for…weeks, months? Until I started changing. Learning to survive. That's what it was all about. Surviving. Getting home. At that point, I had no idea what I wanted to do after; what I would do. Hope for forgiveness, mostly. Try and make up for _my_ mistakes."

Felicity reached for his still flexing fingers, slipping her soft hand into his calloused one and leaning close to him, letting him know she was there. "I'm sorry."

"I deserved it."

"No one deserves any of that, Oliver. Even worse that it happened all at once."

Ollie stroked his free hand over his unshaven jaw before pulling is other hand from hers and wrapping his arm around her shoulders instead. "Let's grab lunch."

"It's nearly three in the afternoon. And it looks like rain."

"Dinner then. It you thought it was fun riding in the sunshine just wait until you feel the cool rain against your skin at eighty miles an hour."

"Right. Maybe you should consider driving at a slower speed and I'll consider getting back on that bike."

"How slow are we talking about?"

Felicity took a moment to consider it. "Posted speed limit at most. If it starts raining while we're riding, then we stop and find shelter or I'm jumping off. She rolled her eyes at his amused look. "Shut up."

Ollie smirked before they both got to their feet and began the trek up the shoreline and back toward the bluff. The archer stopped as soon as his feet touched grass and glared at the spot his bike should have been parked at, fifteen minutes later.

Felicity let out a low whistle. "The Hood got jacked. I can't wait to tell Dig!" She grinned before noticing his emerald gaze had slid over to her. "Come on, you know this is something we'll laugh about. Me right now. You, me, and Dig later. Tommy for all of eternity."

"So will you be laughing before or after we walk in the rain?"

"Walk? Where to?"

Oliver shrugged as he found his boots, which the thieves so kindly left behind. "You said you wanted shelter from the storm and we're sure as hell not going to get any here."

Her shoulders sagged a bit, though she tried to remain optimistic. "At least they left our shoes behind. And once we get wherever, we could call someone to pick us up."

"I'd call Dig now, but on top of taking him at least two hours to get here, I told him to ignore my calls and sped the day with Carly and his nephew."

"And Thea's license is still suspended, right?"

"Doesn't keep her from driving sometimes, but I'd rather not chance her getting caught."

"She could also be on a date of her…own. Yeah, I'll leave that alone for now. I'll check my phone to see how far away we are from the closest town."

An hour later, Felicity was soaked, frustrated, and caked in mud. "I can't believe there aren't any cell towers around here," she groaned as she continued to trudge down the quiet road. "Or cars. Or other people period. How else could your bike get stolen, unless a ghost gang decided to swoop in and relive their wild lives. Which really wouldn't make sense because ghosts can't drive motorcycles. Can they?" Shaking her head, she answered herself, "Don't answer that. How do you know we're heading in the right direction? We came here the opposite way."

"Tracks," he answered shortly, keeping her close to his side.

"Sounds very specific."

"We're following my bike. Whoever stole it, kept it at a slow pace because of the storm and their lack of skill. They'll be stopping in the nearest town, waiting it out, and so will we."

"Perfect. And if they don't?"

"They will. Too dangerous to ride on further. On a turn, the bike could slip out from under the driver. Especially since our thief doesn't really seem to know how to ride. Those marks we saw in the grass earlier, they were from when he lost control. Didn't turn his body with the bike, so he lost control and slipped once already. Probably ended up with the bike on top of one of his legs."

"And somehow we still weren't able to hear them leaving. Granted, we were about a half mile down the beach and otherwise preoccupied, but we couldn't even pick up a cry of pain, let alone the sound of your bike being revved up."

Oliver's mouth set in a thin line. "We got caught up. Lost focus."

Translation: _he _got caught up. _He _lost focus, and it was going to be some time before he let it happen again.

She shivered as the rain continued to pelt down on them and held back a sneeze. Felicity grabbed hold of one of his shoulders, causing him to stop in his tracks as she had hoped. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she hopped onto his back and swatted his butt. "Giddy up!" He tilted his head and fought back a smirk as he glanced back at her. "You can't tell me this isn't faster. All that training and you can't carry little 'ole me into town? Disappointing, Oliver." She grinned, setting her chin on his shoulders, eyes twinkling with silent laughter.

He did smirk at her words before tucking his arms under her legs for a better grip. "Hold on tight. I'll get us there in no time."

"That's the spirit!"

"When we get into town, head straight to the nearest restaurant or store. Someplace that will keep you warm until we can find a way home."

"Oh trust me, I was planning on it."

He started to pick up his pace from a determined walk to a controlled sprint. What would have taken at least another hour or two in the rain, took about thirty minutes at most when they reached the tiny town and Oliver set her down. "Have you ever raced a car?" she asked, trying to smile but her chattering teeth just weren't cooperating.

"Sort of. When my mom got shot by Helena…" he trailed off, running a hand over his rain-darkened hair. She understood that was a subject clearly left best for another day. Or hundred.

"So where do you want to start?"

Oliver glanced around the tiny town, looking for anything out of the ordinary. He looked back at his girlfriend as he heard the faint rumble of her stomach over the pattering of rain against the slick street. "Diner's right there," he smiled, taking her hand and pulling her forward "Let's grab something to eat. Maybe one of the locals spotted him."

"Or her."

"Or her."

"And while we're there we could sit down, dry up for a few minutes and get something to eat."

"Like burgers."

"Um, Jewish," she reminded him, smiling a little easier.

"I've seen you eat non-kosher before," he pointed out with his usual tilted smile.

"Okay, so I'm a bad Jew, but I try to be good. Most days. Then again, we're not far from the beaches. They could have a lot of fish here." Her pale fingers yanked open the door, and she entered the diner before pulling off her glasses and trying to wipe away the rain drops with her wet fingertips, smudging the water across the lenses. Slipping them back on, she smiled at the waitress behind the counter, who just stared at Felicity and Oliver as if they were two crazies, "Hi! Table for two."

The waitress blinked before motioning a hand toward the mostly empty diner. "Self-seating," the greying woman told them before turning toward the kitchen. The young couple selected a booth by the window, sitting across from each other as they waited for their menus.

Oliver quietly surveyed the room as the waitress brought them their menus and some dishtowels to help them dry off. "Excuse me," he told Felicity, not even giving the menu a glance as he stood up.

"Whoa. Hold on. Where are you going?" she leaned over the table and continued in a whisper, "Did you spot him already?"

"No. I ran about eight miles in the rain. I've gotta use the bathroom."

Felicity pursed her lips in an "o" as Oliver smirked at her, emerald eyes twinkling. "Well…clearly I'm becoming potty patrol," she joked, causing him to chuckle before pecking her lips and walking to the restroom. She glanced down at the menu for a minute, before looking up and smiling at the waitress as the older woman dropped off two glasses of water. Then her baby blues narrowed slightly as she noticed one of the few other patrons in the restaurant get up, absentmindedly rubbing his side.

He didn't look any older than fifteen, with dark hair and grey, hollow eyes, but she couldn't ignore the traces of sand and dirt along his right side as he exited the diner. Without a second thought, Felicity immediately stepped out of her booth and followed him out the door.

Staying a few feet behind him as the rain continued to fall hard, the blonde followed his dark form off the main road and onto a quiet side street, stopping at the garage of a privately owned suburban house. He entered through the side door and she approached cautiously, trying to pick up any sound from inside over the rain hitting the garage roof and aluminum siding. Glancing around, she saw no one else in sight, s she tip-toed around the building, searching for a window to peek through. As she passed by the back of the house, an engine roared, causing her to freeze in place.

Turning on her heel, Felicity ran back toward the front of the garage, just in time to see someone else ride onto the street on Oliver's bike. Before she could make it across the driveway, the original their tackled her from behind, sending them both skidding along the slick asphalt.

Felicity grit her teeth before shoving her elbow back into the dark-haired boys face, breaking his nose before pushing herself back to her feet and stumbling down the road. "Hey!" she shouted, ignoring the stinging in her knees and hands. "My adrenaline rush is going to kick in soon. I'm going to run you down. Tackle you off that bike – ow! My side. I hate cramps," she muttered the last few words, after wincing in pain. Seconds after a gunshot rang through the air and she immediately dropped to the ground and covered her head.

"Stay low," she heard Oliver bark as he passed by, running after the other thief. Getting to her feet, she looked back to see the teenager lying unconscious in the grass behind her, his recently fired revolver next to him.

Oliver cut through the backyards of the houses on the left side of the street, meeting up with his motorcycle and its new driver in minutes. He climbed onto the back and shoved the guy off before gaining control of the custom bike and turning in around. Stopping inches from the more rounded teenager's face, he warned, "Don't even think about running," before reaching down and pulling the rotund young man to his feet. He yanked the helmet off the guy's face to reveal slick black hair and glaring brown eyes. Ollie cocked his head to the side and observed, "You look too young to be stealing bikes." The kid just attempted to spit in his face.

Oliver frowned before shoving the teenager over the bike and driving back toward Felicity. She was already speaking with local law enforcement, leaving them no choice but to stick around and file a report.

By the time they exited the police station, three hours later, it was dark and quiet and the stars were in full view. The street lights were on and the moon was nearly full. "It's so beautiful," Felicity commented as they walked hand-in-hand back to his motorcycle.

"Yeah. I'm sure this was just the perfect date," Oliver added sarcastically.

Felicity stopped and smiled up at him before wrapping her arms around his broad shoulders and pulled him in for a kiss. "More than you know, Oliver," she breathed against his lips, "and the night is still young."

He smiled slowly against her lips. "Anything specific in mind?"

The curly-haired blonde grinned as she eased away from him. "Teach me how to drive."

"It's the middle of the night."

"Here I thought you were supposed to be the dangerous one."

"Ouch. You've discovered my secret and totally destroyed my reputation."

"Clearly I'm the worst enemy you could ever have."

"I'll alert the media."

A/N: Sorry for the long wait! I've been busy for the last month+ looking for a new job (and the search continues on), so I haven't had much time to write. This chapter isn't as long as I wanted it to be, but I wanted to post something for all of you lovely readers who have continued to diligently check the story, review, follow and favorite. Thank you all very much! All mistakes are, as usual, my own though there are probably more than usual since it's late and I just finished typing this maybe ten minutes ago.

I'd also like to thank **dhfreak06** for making me the awesome cover art for this story! It was a wonderful surprise that I still haven't gotten over. I love it so much!

To the **Guest** reviewer who was hoping to see Felicity go more on the attack, you're right. She is much more in your face than I've been writing her and I will try to build on that more, starting with this chapter.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Thanks for reading. Please review.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Arrow. Characters, places, etc. (i.e. everything) belong to Warner Bros. and DC Comics.

Chapter XI

Hazy was the best way to describe how she was feeling. She couldn't even remember if hazy was a real word, at the moment.

The world spun as she attempted to crawl out from under the covers and ended up nearly smacking her head against the bedside table. Groaning, she used the edge of her soft bed to pull herself up from the carpet, and blinked around her blurry room. Her head was throbbing, but she pushed on toward her bathroom and began to prepare for her day.

A hot shower did the trick. Clearing her sinuses and waking her up enough to prepare for her workday, albeit, more slowly than her usual pace. By the time she's applied a little bit of makeup and grabbed her bag, she was already running twenty minutes late.

Of course, as soon as she hit traffic, so did her sniffles. Okay, they were more like gross gobs of green mucus shooting from her nostrils, but that was just – as previously stated – gross. Reaching toward her bag with one hand, she pulled out the plastic packet of travel tissues and wiped her red-tipped nose.

Parking in the Queen Consolidated parking garage, she snatched her bag as she tried to exit her car only to be pulled back when the strap decided it preferred being attached to the shifter instead of her shoulder, and dropped all of her things to the floor in front of the passenger seat. Taking a deep breath, she leaned over and began shoving her stuff back into her bag, lifted it over the seats so it wouldn't catch itself on anything, and finally – finally! – exited her car, slamming the door shut behind her. She took two steps, forward when a high-end Lamborghini whistled by her, barely missing her feet.

"Oh my God! Watch it!" she yelled, her voice cracking hoarsely.

The shiny black car came to a complete stop as she glared at it, before it reversed so its driver was parallel to her. The dark windows rolled down, revealing a man with windswept brown hair and a disarming grin. "You okay there, sugar? Didn't see you there."

"Clearly. Maybe you should pay more attention to the posted speed limit. Especially in a parking garage. It's two miles," she grunted before walking to the elevator with her chin held high.

"You realize that's not possible, right," the man called out as he followed her in his car, reversing slowly.

"I've seen a lot of things that are supposedly impossible – especially lately. The fact that you're able to go a couple of miles in reverse proves just how wrong you are. Have a nice day. Try not to kill anyone with that thing. For their sake."

Felicity jammed her thumb against the elevator door button until it opened and she stepped inside, pausing only to glare at him before entering. As soon as the doors closed behind her she broke into a coughing fit. "I better still have DayQuil in my desk," she muttered, rubbing her throat before pushing her glasses up to the bridge of her nose, adjusting her bag, and exiting the elevator.

Oliver did his best to stay awake during his meeting with Tommy, but his best friend wasn't exactly helping the situation with all the numbers he was throwing around. It'd been a long weekend after his date with Felicity didn't go as planned, and he hadn't had any sleep since…Thursday, he'd guess. Usually he tried to catch a few hours when he could, but between the club, his public life, and his much more private life, those hours weren't coming along easily.

Matters at home weren't at their best either, and his lack of knowing what those problems are, wasn't helping things. Even though his mother had convinced Walter to give her another chance, things were tense, and he wasn't the only one avoiding that tension. Thea had been keeping busy as well. Luckily it was mostly work with CNRI. Of course, when she wasn't there, she was with Roy Harper, which was something Oliver wasn't as happy about.

That guy liked to get into trouble, and his sister had been in enough as it is.

"…so I told Laurel that the purple elephant was much better than the green, but pink sends more of a Dumbo reference, you know?" Oliver blinked upon hearing the tail end of Tommy's sentence and glanced at his smirking business partner.

"I know," Diggle chimed in from the corner, grinning. "Nothing like Pink Elephants on Parade."

"That's what I'm saying!"

Oliver ran a hand over his face. "You're both hilarious." Pushing away from the table, he grabbed his suit jacket and checked his watch. "I'm going home. Catch some sleep. You've clearly got things in hand."

Tommy grinned and waved him way before snapping his fingers, bringing the blonde's attention back to him. "Oh! You should stop by the apartment later. Travis is in town?"

"Travis Hart? Steve Dayton's buddy?"

"Yeah. He's working on a deal for some super prototype racing engine with your mom. Supposed to revolutionize NASCAR or something. Stop by and say hi! Bring Felicity, too. I'm sure she'll love him as much as Laurel does." Tommy's smile vanished for a moment, as his tone dropped its usual playful nature. "Seriously, do _not_ leave me alone with this guy all night."

Oliver ran a hand over his short hair, sighing, "Bring him by the club instead. We could use business to drop him. Work out a code with the staff and let me in on it later. Besides, you know he's going to visit at some point. Two birds."

"Got it. Thanks, Bro."

"Don't mention it. See you later, Bud." They clapped hands before Oliver exited the room with Diggle at his heels.

The large bodyguard waited until they'd made it to the car before finally speaking his mind. "I hear Travis Hart is actually a decent guy, among you trust fund babies."

"Which is why the rest of us aren't really fans. Besides, you should know you don't believe everything you hear, Dig," Oliver smirked from his place in the back seat, "Hart's got a wild side. Just prefers keeping it from the rest of the world."

"I'm guessing he lets it out on the tracks."

"Total speed junkie. At least he was the last time I saw him. You have no idea how many accidents his father was able to sweep under the rug, being a federal judge and all. Straight edge as far as booze and drugs went, but give him anything with wheels and an engine and it's like the guy loses his mind." Oliver rubbed his jaw thoughtfully, glancing out the window, watching his city in bright daylight from behind dark windows. "Stop by the flower shop at the end of the block."

"Picking up some posies?"

"Roses or daisies?"

Diggle glanced back at Oliver through the rearview mirror. "You have to ask?"

"Daisies. But I'm thinking of mixing some roses in there too. Same color as her favorite lipstick."

"Still trying to make up for the world's worst date?"

"I have been on the world's worst date, Diggle, and while Saturday wasn't it, it was close for a few seconds. Flowers are a good start."

"Yeah. Nothing screams sorry like flowers and a card that reads, "Sorry you almost got shot after we had to walk miles through the rain because my bike got stolen, but would you like to hang out with one of my obnoxious and pretentious friends tonight?" I'm sure she'll love it, Oliver."

Felicity looked to her closed office door after hearing someone knocking numerous times. "It's open," she called out, turning her attention back to her day job, still sniffling.

"Good to hear." Her hands stopped in mid-air at the voice from the parking garage. The man entered with a toothy grin and a plastic bag in his hand. Out of his car, she could make out his lean body and his average height. Maybe a half inch below average. "Got you an "I'm-sorry-for-nearly-running-you-over" present. Took me a while to find out where you worked around here, otherwise I'd have brought it up sooner." He placed the bag carefully on her desk and stuck out his lower lip. "I'm sorry, Felicity."

The IT genius blinked at the brown-eyed man slowly before carefully reaching for the white plastic bag and opening it to reveal, "Cough syrup and cough drops," she gave him her best smile. "Apology accepted, Mr…"

"Hart. Travis Hart. You sounded like you could use it earlier." He winced at his poor choice of words. "Sorry. That came out wrong. I meant-" Her work phone began ringing, cutting him off.

"Felicity Smoak," she answered immediately, jumping right back into her zone.

"Felicity? You sound awful."

Rolling her eyes toward the heavens, she held the phone between her ear and shoulder as she got back to work. "You're such a romantic. I'm falling head over heels rights. Why are you calling me at work?"

"Why are you at work when you sound like that? You should be in bed."

"Because some of us have very important day jobs to work through so we can earn this thing called a paycheck. Why are you calling me at work?"

"Because your cell phone was going straight to voice mail."

"That's impossible. I charged it last night, and-" she stopped and slapped a hand to her forehead. "Crap monkeys! I think I left it at home."

"Where you should be right now. I'm coming to pick you up."

"There's no need to pick me up, I'm fine, and I'm very busy. I'll see you later tonight."

"Felicity-"

"See you tonight, Oliver." She dropped the receiver back into its cradle when she heard Travis's low chuckle. Her brown pinched upon still seeing him in her office, now sitting on the edge of her desk. "Um…Hi. Not to be rude, but is there any reason you're still here?"

Travis ran a hand though his perfectly mussed hair, still chuckling. "Well, I was going to ask you out, but now I suddenly remember where I've seen you before. Still seeing Queen, huh?"

"Yes, we-"

"Watch out for him. I hear he still spends his nights partying it up in his own club, now. He may not be as changed as everyone thinks."

Crossing her arms over her chest, Felicity turned in her chair and took a deep breath as she locked her eyes onto Travis'. "Or maybe he's changed more than _anyone_ thinks. I trust him, Mr. Hart, and I can't say the same for you. Now, I'd appreciate it if you left my office and didn't come back. Ever." She jerked her chin to the door as she fought the tickling sensation in her nose. "The door's right there."

Travis looked like he wanted to say more, but thought better of it and pushed himself off the corner of her desk instead. He apologized once more before leaving her domain.

As soon as the door shut behind him, Felicity grabbed one of the tissues on her desk and let out a sneeze that almost knocked her out of her seat. "Maybe I should have taken a sick day." Shaking her head, she threw the used tissue in the bin and returned her focus back to her work.

It was a few hours before she heard another quick knock on the door before it opened slowly. "Felicity," Diggle greeted, smiling and holding a paper bag up, "brought you some lunch…" He smirked upon seeing her sleeping in her chair, her ear buds hanging around her shoulders, with music blaring out of them. Next to her keyboard was a bottle of cough syrup and a plastic cup with a little water still sitting at the base.

Shaking his head, he shuffled some papers around before setting the bag he'd brought down and gently shaking her awake. "Felicity," he whispered over and over again until her eyes opened and blinked a few times.

"Dig?" her voice was so hoarse now, it sounded like rolling gravel.

"Come on. I'm going to take you back to your apartment," he helped her get to her feet.

Felicity didn't bother putting up a fight. She grabbed her bag and started throwing anything remotely into it as Diggle put her medicine in one of her desk drawers. She couldn't remember the last time she's felt this sick. "What're you doing here?" her words came out a jumbled mess, though in her own mind, she wasn't even quite sure she's asked.

"Oliver wanted to make sure you were okay. I told him I'd stop in with some soup for you. You can have it at home."

"Mm-kay." Felicity nearly tripped as she walked around her desk, only for Diggle to catch her by the elbow and helped steady her. "Nice shoes."

"You're so delirious, it's almost cute. Come on." He led her out of the office and down the hall toward the elevators.

"You're cute, too, Pig." Her brow puckered in concentration. "No…no…that wasn't right. It rhymes. Right?"

"I better call a doctor while I'm at it." He pressed his thumb against the elevator button once more.

"I met…someone…" The ill woman waved her hand around as if that someone would magically appear out of thin air.

He turned his dark eyes to her in slight interest. "Really?"

"Yeah." She wavered in her spot.

"That's nice."

Frowning, she informed her friend, "We're not friends."

"That's alright. Maybe when you're feeling better you will be." The elevator doors opened, allowing them to enter and begin the travel down to the garage.

"…Mmm. Possible. Just…Oh, my stomach." She dropped her bag and clutched one hand to her stomach as the other went to her mouth, before she lost control and emptied what little contents had been in her stomach onto the floor.

"Oh. That's not pretty."

Walking pneumonia.

Felicity had walking pneumonia and some type of stomach bug to go along with it. That was just perfect. As if the date hadn't gone bad enough, now she was suffering from it, as well.

Oliver thanked the departing doctor for the house call, before showing him to the foyer of his mother's mansion and out the front door. He called to one of the housekeepers and informed them that his girlfriend would be staying for the foreseeable future, before heading back to his room to check on her.

As soon as he opened the door, he spotted Felicity fast asleep in his bed, snoring lightly in her sleep.

Picking up his cell, he called Tommy at the club. "Hey," he spoke softly after Tommy answered the phone, "Felicity's not feeling well. She's not going to make it tonight."

"She okay?"

"Yeah, but she's got walking pneumonia. I'm going to stop in and say my hellos before I get to work, though, so don't worry. Just make sure you warn Laurel she won't have any backup with Hart. Otherwise you'll be in the doghouse for a while."

"Will do. Thanks and I hope Felicity gets better soon."

"Same. See you later!"

Oliver ended the call before sitting on the edge of his bed and smoothed Felicity's hair away from her face before softly kissing her forehead. Getting to his feet, he walked over to his closet and selected a suit for the evening before going into his private bathroom to shower and change.

A half hour later, he was cleaned and dressed and ready to go out the door, except he paused. Stopping with his hand on the knob, he turned back and softly kissed Felicity's hot cheek before pulling out his cell phone and leaving the room as he made a call.

A/N: Woo hoo! Two updates in two consecutive weeks! That's good right. The writing bug has bit so I'm trying to use it while I can.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for reading. Please review!


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Arrow. Characters, places, etc. (i.e. everything) belong to Warner Bros. and DC Comics.

Chapter XII

Verdant was packed with people. Which was not uncommon for the recently opened night club, owned by Oliver Queen and run by his best friend Tommy Merlyn. Of course, when Travis Hart stepped through the door…well, that was just the icing on the fame cake.

The young millionaire smiled and high-fived people he didn't even know and would never be able to pick out of a police lineup as he made his way to the bar.

Tommy groaned before glancing at his girlfriend and muttering, "You ready?"

Laurel ran a hand through her dark hair as she glanced through the throng of fans before grabbing her wine glass and looking back at Tommy. "Is it too late for me to hang out with Felicity? If she got me sick that would be even better. Gives me an excuse not for see him for at least a week."

"I really hope he's not here that long. He's almost as bad as – Travis!" Tommy grinned as Travis reached the bar and tried to greet Laurel with a kiss on the cheek, she just downed a slug of her red wine and turned her head away. "You remember Laurel and Laurel clearly remembers you, don't you, Laurel?"

Setting her glass down carefully, the dark-haired young woman set her cool gaze on her old…acquaintance. "Yeah. You're the guy who almost-"

"You still haven't let that go have you?" Travis cut her off, his eyes betraying the anger he was trying to hide behind his usual charming smile. "That was years ago. High school. We were all kids."

"Just because you were able to buy your way out of jail time doesn't mean the rest of us will ever forget what you did. She was one of my best friends and she's in a wheelchair now. For the rest of her life. I will _never _forget." She looked away and silently called to the bartender to refill her glass.

Tommy smirked at Travis. "Clearly this is going well."

"Better than I expected," Oliver said as he stepped between Travis and Laurel and shook Travis' hand. "Travis."

"Ollie! Long time no see. Met your new girl this morning. She's interesting. Never saw her as your type before, but I guess a few years alone on an island changes a guy in a lot of ways, huh?"

Oliver's smile tightened at Travis' backhanded comment while Laurel let out a bark of laughter. "No wonder Felicity's ill," she shot back, shaking her head, "Two seconds sharing the same air and I'm not feeling so well myself."

Travis rolled his eyes. "Actually, she wasn't looking that hot when I saw her this morning, so I took it upon myself to go out and get her some cough medicine, at least."

"How generous of you," Ollie bit out through grinding teeth.

"Well, I've gotta tell you, Ollie, if she was my girl I never would have let her out in her condition. Looked ready to throw up a frog and she sounded a thousand times worse than one."

"Hmm. Good thing she isn't, than."

"If she had ever been, I'd doubt it'd have lasted long," Laurel continued to comment, before deciding to cut herself off. "Good catching up, guys. I think I'm going to head home early. Tommy, you want to walk me out?"

Tommy, leapt over the slick counter before clapping Ollie on the back and whispering, "I'll send Harper up on my way out," before giving Travis a quick goodbye and escorting Laurel out the door.

"Wow. If she's this hostile to me, I can't imagine what she's like to you," Travis joked once the couple was out of earshot.

"Actually, Laurel and I are friends. See, I try and make up for my mistakes, even years after I make them. Sweeping them under the rug and pretending like they never happened, I learned, just comes back to bite you in the ass. Turns out, as much as women love rich and famous guys, the best ones love guys who grow up and learn to be real men."

"Bam!" Both Oliver and Travis turned to see a smirking Roy Harper standing next to them in his dress shirt and slacks. He gave a one-armed shrug to the famous Travis Hart before turning to his boss, the infamous, Oliver Queen, and informing him, "Got a problem. Tommy just left so, you're the man, y'know?"

Oliver slowly released a breath before forcing a smile toward his old "friend" and motioning for Roy to follow him. Once they were out of earshot, he told his sister's boyfriend, "You can go back to work now."

"What? No tip for the rescue."

"I know I can thank Tommy for my rescue and I also know there are probably a few more cars that need your attention for the night."

"Wow. He really shoved something up-" Roy held his hands up as Ollie turned and glared down at him. "Take that as a yes. Later, Boss," he told Ollie before disappearing into the crowd of people. Oliver watched before turning back to the office and stepping inside.

Locking the door behind him, he walked over to the back wall and opened the secret entrance to his team's little "clubhouse" as Tommy liked to call it sometimes. Once he was sure the door was securely shut behind him, he walked down the stairs and could hear Diggle tapping away at the computers, trying to hold the fort down while Felicity was resting. From the loud groan the large man let out, it seemed as if he was not having the best time, either.

"Problems Dig?" he asked as he pulled off his suit jacketed it out over one of the tables.

Diggle grunted before adding, "Not as many as you seem to be having. Travis Hart, huh?"

"Nothing I can't handle."

"From the security feed I was watching, you looked ready to kill him for a second."

"…Apparently, he met Felicity today." Oliver's dark blonde brows knit together as he noticed Dig pause in his typing. "You knew?"

"She told me when I picked her up that she met someone, but she was so out of it…hard to tell if she just dreamed it up or hallucinated him," Diggle shrugged from his seat in front of the monitors. "She also didn't give me a name, so I had no clue it was him."

"That's fine, Dig."

"You didn't know she was sick, Oliver." Diggle smirked as Oliver glanced over at him. "I know a little lip reading. Can't make out complete conversations, but…"

Oliver just thumbed his nose and pulled out his suit. "It was nothing. What have we got tonight?"

"Police scanners are picking up mostly small disturbances. Nothing they can't and haven't been able to handle." Now it was Oliver's turn to release a frustrated groan. "Need to work off some energy, huh?"

"You have no idea."

"Really? Everything I've been through, and I have no idea?"

"Not now, Dig. Let me get changed, first."

"Right. Like I-…" Dig trailed off and shook his head. "No. Nope. Not going to be your work wife tonight."

"That would be a first. Pretty sure we've both been married to the job since we met."

"Not tonight, Oliver."

"If not now than when, John?"

"You wanted to wait until after you were changed. Fine, get changed. I'm not stopping you. Then you can go ahead and run around the city, because we both know that's what you're immediately going to do once you finish changing. By the time you get back, we'll both just be too damn tired to even think about Hart, so him and everything he said is just going to get pushed to the side and hopefully forgotten once he leave Starling."

Oliver blinked before clapping Diggle on the back as he walked away with his leather suit. "Sounds like a plan. Good talk, Dig."

Rolling his dark eyes to the heavens, Diggle muttered under his breath, "Why do I even bother?" before returning his attention back to his work.

When Felicity woke up from her prescription drug-induced coma, the world around her was nothing but a big blur. It took her a few minutes to realize she was lying in her boyfriend's bed, in his giant mansion, very far away from her apartment. It took her a few minutes more to realize that sitting on the bedside table, beside her glasses, was a vase full of freshly cut daisies with a note attached. Reaching for her glasses, she accidently sent them skittering across the floor and tried to moan in frustration, but ended up releasing a relentless hacking cough instead.

Once her coughing fit was through, she slowly climbed out of bed and kneeled on the hardwood floor in search of her glasses. Finding them, she slid them into place on her nose before standing up – and immediately regretted the act.

The world spun around her and she stretched her arms out to try and steady herself. Two familiar arms did it for her. "Easy, Felicity," she heard Oliver tell her softly as he helped her back into bed. "You're not even close to feeling better."

She didn't argue, just slid back in under the warm covers of her boyfriend's sheets, trying to clear her sore throat. "Why am I here?" she asked, her voice strained and face flushed. Her eyes narrowed as she noticed he was wearing his leather uniform. "Did you-"

"Save your voice," he ordered softly as he reached for the pitcher of water one of the maids had left for her. "I'll grab you some hot tea with honey after I get changed."

Gratefully, she took the offered glass and downed its contents quickly, letting the cool water soothe her aching throat for a few scarce moments. "Why am I here?"

"So I can make sure you're taken care of. You weren't doing so well on your own. Went from regular pneumonia to walking. I'm pretty sure it's worse when it's on the move."

"Thanks. I hadn't noticed." She broke into another fit of coughs, nearly dropping the clear glass cup to the floor as she moved the cover her mouth and keep her germs from spreading to Oliver. "You should probably leave."

"I'm fine right here."

"You're going to get sick."

"I've felt worse. Little illness is nothing."

"Oliver."

"Felicity."

Blue eyes glared at green before rolling up as she released a puff of air. "Fine. What's on the card?"

Oliver's brow knit for a moment before his eyes fell on the two dozen daisies he'd ordered earlier in the day and had rerouted before he'd left for the club earlier in the evening. "Oh." He plucked the small, white cardstock from the bundle in the red vase and handed it to her so she could read his note.

_Sorry you almost got shot after we had to walk miles through the rain because my bike got stolen, but would you like to hang out with one of my obnoxious and pretentious friends tonight?_

Smiling, she set the card down before she scrunched her face as she pointed to her throat.

"I called that in before I knew you were sick," he informed her, smirking. "Trust me, you didn't miss a thing. Although you were missed. Laurel was hoping for some backup against this guy."

"Wow. That much of a-a-AHCHOO!"

He grabbed some tissues and handed them to her so she could blow her nose. "Oh, I'm sure by now you know first-hand. Apparently you met him at work today."

Felicity's forehead crinkled as she tried to recall the events of her morning, which felt more like a dream than anything. Then her eyes lit with slight recognition. "That idiot who almost ran me over in the parking lot, right?"

"What?" Oliver jumped to his feet. "Damn Hart."

"Yeah. That's his name. Hart. Brown hair, nice smile, very nice body-"

"Felicity!"

"Yours is still top notch, don't worry." She tried her best to smile sweetly though she was feeling exhausted. "Plus, you never tried to run me over with a car before. He loses major points for that."

"On purpose?"

"No. No. If I remember correctly, he seemed genuinely sorry for it. Not that I was really in the mood to hear it. Didn't have the greatest morning. Not feeling so hot now, either."

"You should get some rest."

"I probably should."

He tilted his head to the side and smiled slightly. "You don't look like you're ready to fall back to sleep."

"Maybe I'm waiting for a bedtime story…"

"Yeah. I'm not really good at those. How about something to eat?"

"That works too! Liquid, though. My stomach still isn't feeling great. Oh, and you might want to get changed before you walk back out that door."

"I actually came through the window."

If Felicity had the strength the lift her pillow and throw it at him, she would. Not that he wouldn't be able to catch it deftly in his hands, or dodge it if he was just too lazy to catch the damn thing. Instead she just fell back against the pillows and watched as Oliver slipped back out his bedroom window. "So, I guess that food will be a while, huh?"

After a moment of silence, she sighed. "Yeah. Gonna be a while. Stupid leather pants."

A/N: Here is the latest update! Working on chapter 13 now, so don't worry. It'll be out...before the end of July. Promise!

Until then, thanks for reading. Please review!


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Arrow. Characters, places, etc. (i.e. everything) belongs to Warner Bros. and DC Comics.

Chapter XIII

"…and he just…he begged me to help him. And he looked like shit. Complete shit. If he had been captured by those soldiers, they'd done a number on him. Something still didn't feel right about it, though." Oliver shook his head as he stared across the room, unconsciously stroking a hand up and down Felicity's arm as he recalled his story. "Why would they leave him in the cave instead of back at their base? Why torture him there?

"I asked, but he just kept begging and begging me to help him, but I couldn't ignore the feeling in my gut. And Slade…he was counting on me. He and Yao Fei took a chance on me. They trusted their guts with me and I needed to trust mine to protect them. No matter how confused I felt. So I left him in the cave and took the herbs back to Slade."

Felicity looked up at him, eyes shining, and mouth falling open. "Was he part of them? Was it just another trick?"

He worked the muscles in his jaw. "Yeah. But I didn't know for sure until much later, when he was helping Fyers take down a commercial airliner. I'd been restless, wondering, for weeks if I'd signed his death warrant by leaving him in that cave, but there he was – working with Fyers, sitting and watching as Fyers forced Yao Fei to take "credit" for the airliner's attack, before killing him in cold blood. In front of his own daughter, no less."

Felicity gently rubbed a hand up and down his tense arm. "Then you did the right thing. Listening to your gut like that, even if it doesn't make any sense. It's why I still helped you and Dig out, even when all of your stories were obviously complete lies."

"And here I thought it was my effervescent charm."

She poked his chest. "Right. You just poured on the old Queen charm and I fell right into your arms."

A corner of his mouth tipped up. "I like to think so."

"Think again. You're my boss's son."

"As I recall, that first trip to the IT department involved possible corporate espionage."

"And, as I recall, I told you I wanted no part of it. I got the laptop up and running and sent you on your way."

"You gave me the lead I needed to save Walter." He paused as he stared down at her. "I never thanked you for that."

"Well, you were trying to keep the Hood a secret. You did say thank you for helping, but never explicitly for saving Walter. Just, you know, doing what was asked. It was my job, after all. Plus you're technically my boss even if you hold no position at the company because, eventually-"

Oliver leaned down, brushing his lips across hers and ending her sentence. Pulling back, he leaned his forehead against hers. "How are you feeling?"

"Flu free. Still."

"It was pneu-"

"I know what it was, Oliver, but flu fit better, Plus, I may have been really…" her blue eyes widened as slowly moved her head and hands around, "blah – I was out of work for a week – but that was weeks ago. I'm more than one hundred percent right now."

"Alright. As long as you say so." He brushed a piece of hair from her face before settling back into bed so they could drift to sleep.

The following morning, Oliver stepped out of his walk-in closet to see that a twister had blown through his room. And its name was very familiar. "Have you seen my workpants?" Felicity asked her boyfriend as she went through his drawers.

"I have no idea which drawer you put them in," Oliver answered as he buttoned up his blue shirt before tucking it into his pants. "Maybe they're in the closet?"

"Went through the closet already. Oh! Laundry – no. They can't be in the laundry bag. I need them."

"It's Friday. Wear jeans."

"That's unprofessional, Oliver."

"Casual Friday, Felicity. You change into jeans most of the time after work, why not start the day with them today. It's one day."

"It's a very important day! I'm meeting with my managers for a promotion at ten. I cannot go to an interview in jeans."

Oliver set his hands on Felicity's shoulders and kissed her temple. "You're going to do great. They'll love you. Plus you're the smartest person at the company. Your boss knows that."

"Yeah, that doesn't really make him much of a fan. Especially since the next position up is his."

"If you're more qualified than him, who's to argue. I promoted you."

"I doubt Dig ever wanted to be your girlfriend. And if he did, then we do not know him as well as we think." She started shaking her head. "And now I'm trying to rid myself of the mental images as I look for my workpants."

"Hold on." Oliver turned away from her and left his room as he cuffed his sleeves. A few doors down the hall, he stopped and knocked on his sister's door. "Thea! Thea are you in there?"

His teenage sister opened the door enough for her head to pop out, her hair pulled up and hidden by a towel. "What's up?" she asked, her dark eyes glaring up at her brother.

"Do you have any idea if the laundry from yesterday is done or not? Some of Felicity's work pants are in it and she needs them for an interview today."

Thea's eyes narrowed and her mouth dropped to a frown. "She's leaving Queen Consolidated?"

"No, it's for a promotion at Consolidated. Do you know?"

"Well, Raisa might have thrown some of her clothes in with mine. Again. She's free to come in and look. You, on the other hand, are not. Now leave. I'm naked."

"Roy's not-" The door slammed in his face before he could finish. Frowning he walked back to his room to find Felicity throwing the neatly hung clothes out of his closet. "Thea just got some clothes back. She says you can check through them, if you-"

Felicity nearly flew out of the room with a quick, "Thanks!" thrown over her shoulder.

Oliver shook his head before looking around for a tie. Grabbing the first one he saw – solid, dark blue – he found his blazer and headed out the bedroom door. Passing Thea's room, he noticed the door was still closed but could hear his girlfriend and sister whispering inside. "Call me after your meeting, Felicity. See you at lunch today, Thea," he called through the door before heading down the stairs to meet Diggle at the car.

"I can't believe I have so many clothes here. It's only been a couple of weeks," Felicity muttered as she sorted through the clothes the maid had left for Thea as the dark-haired girl put on her makeup in front of her vanity.

Thea grinned, despite herself. "Right? I mean, it's not like it's been a _month_ or anything."

The blonde shook her head. "A month? It hasn't been a – Yes! Here they are!"

Thea looked at the genius from the mirror. "Make sure you take the rest of your stuff too. That way you don't have to come back again tonight."

"Why? Got plans with your _boyfriend_?" Felicity teased.

Thea rolled her eyes. "Please. Like I'd bring him here. I've done many dumb things, but that will not be one of them. Actually, Roy and I are thinking of getting an apartment together. Maybe you and Ollie should consider doing the same. Either way, our clothes aren't going to be getting mixed soon."

"I don't suppose you've told your brother of your plans?"

"Not until moving day. Whenever that is. I'm going to need him to use those muscles for something other than showing off."

Felicity bit her lip and shook her head. "Sometimes he does," she told the eighteen-year-old, smiling.

Thea cringed and turned in her chair to glare at Felicity. "Eww. TMI. You need to hurry and leave now."

"Almost done."

"You were running a little late," Diggle observed as he pulled out from the mansion's main drive and onto the road. "Problems?"

"Well, Gossip Man, Felicity was having problems finding her pants."

"Too much information. Forget I asked."

"They were in the Thea's laundry. I think. I didn't stick around to find out."

"So Felicity's clothes got mixed around with Thea's again?"

"Ever since Thea started working full time at CNRI, and Felicity…"

"Moved in."

"She's not moved in."

"Ninety percent of her clothes are in your closet, Oliver. She's officially moved in. Whether either of you realized it or not. That pneumonia just shoved you along a bit."

"The point is, Raisa mixes up their work clothes – blouses, slacks, blazers – when she does the laundry. And for some reason, she just leaves them all for Thea."

"Wouldn't happen if you and Felicity got your own place."

"Living together is a big step, Dig. I'm not sure we're ready for it right now."

"Uh huh. Which means you're both getting to the breaking point then, right? You're going to live in your mother's house for the rest of your life because you're too afraid of taking that "big step" with anyone."

"Or because, at some point in the future, it will be my house."

"Right. So sleeping in the same room that your parents slept in, and your mother and step-father slept in, doesn't have any level of creepiness at all."

"Change the subject, Dig."

"Ok. Haven't seen that Hart guy in a while." Diggle smirked as he glanced in the rearview mirror to see Oliver's glaring green eyes. "Another sore subject?"

"He had to return home to prepare his teams for the new racing season. I have no doubt he'll return at some point. He has an agreement with Queen Consolidated to work on that super engine of his. Not only that, but they're working on a new program to read the engine so it can wirelessly report any problems that occur, the moment they occur, and give a list of possible solutions to those problems."

"Sounds like a tech thing."

"A lot of departments are supposed to expand and merge over this particular project." Oliver shifts in the backseat, his head tilting to the side for a split second. "What are we doing again today?"

Dig smirked and shook his head as he set one arm beside the window and started steering the car with just his right hand. "You and Tommy have a boy's day at the country club. I'm pretty sure you're over dressed for golf."

"They store my gear in my locker. I can get changed there. Although I'm pretty sure we're supposed to play tennis today. I'll find out when we see Tommy."

"And while you do that, I'm going to check in with some of my contacts at A.R.G.U.S. See if they've heard anything on Deadshot recently. Unless you'd like me to join you guys? Block off the tennis machine."

"Well you have been hired to take a bullet for me. How's your backhand?"

"Decent. Not as mean as my serve. I do have to let you know, though, I don't get paid enough to take a bullet for anyone."

"So then a tennis ball is no big deal."

"Well, I'm sure I'll get a big bonus. An extra thousand dollars a hit."

"C'mon Dig. You're not worth nearly that much." Oliver grinned and offered, "Five hundred."

"Five hundred thousand? Well, in that case I'm in."

"Yeah. Just drop four hundred and ninety-nine thousand, five hundred dollars. I will pay for your new tennis shoes, though."

"Well in that case, I'm definitely going to have to pass, Mr. Queen." Diggle shifted the car into park and motioned out the door. "Have a nice match, sir."

Felicity made her way to the conference room at 9:45, before stopping in the hall, taking a deep breath, and continuing on. Grabbing the smooth metal handle, she yanked the door open and poked her head inside. "Hi! I hope I'm not too early. I finished my work on the virtual security upgrades early. Obviously. Since I'm fifteen minutes early and a computer genius, not a bodyguard. Not to make myself seem boastful, or to put myself down. Because honestly, I'm the smartest person in this room and totally deserve this promotion but now I'm sure I sound really cocky, so I'm just going to…stop…talking…"

She gave her boss, Mr. Robertson, a smile though he just glared daggers at her in return. His boss, Mrs. Adler broke out into peals of laughter. "Sit, sit," she instructed the blonde, motioning for her to take a seat in one of the many chairs. Felicity adjusted her glasses before doing so, watching the middle-aged woman, watching as she regained her composure. "So you're Felicity Smoak. I've heard such wonderful things about you."

"Thank you, Mrs. Adler."

With the back of her hand, Mrs. Adler flicked her auburn curls from her honey brown eyes. "My only planned question for you was whether or not you think you can handle this job? You'll be in charge of a very small, but very important team of programmers for this project and while you have worked on many projects for Queen Consolidated in the past, they have all been solo."

Felicity nodded. "Yes, I'm aware, but I've worked in a team environment before. In college. I worked in a team environment in college. And I'm a total team player and ready for responsibility. More responsibility. Than I currently have." She took a breath. "I'm open to new challenges," she settled on.

"And what exactly did you work on in college? With other programmers, I'm assuming."

"Yes. Yeah. Yes. We worked on video game designs. Apps. For fun. And class projects." Mrs. Adler nodded as she looked away to make a note in her leather notepad. "I am very prepared for this position and feel like I'm also the best fit."

Looking over to Mr. Robertson, the middle-aged woman asked, "Do you have any more questions for Miss Smoak?"

Flicking his pen between his rotund fingers as he continued to glare across the table at her. "Do you think your relationship with Oliver Queen will affect your work more than it already has?"

Felicity's brow furrowed. "My relationship with Mr. Queen has not affected my work at all."

"He's clearly a distraction for you."

"No, he's not. I've been dating him for a number of months now, and have been able to get all the work that has been given to me done on time. Before it's due, even. And I've only had one sick week in the past two years."

"Yes, but you've also used more of your personal and vacation time more in the past six months than you have in the past two years. For this project we need someone who will be on top of the job every single day, and while Mr. Queen is the son of our CEO and Founder, I'm sure even he is aware of how important this account is to us and will not be allowed to take precedent over this job."

"I'm sure he is aware, and I'm aware, and I completely understand that as a supervisor, I am the person who will be setting a precedent for this project. I'm also aware that I'm allowed vacation and personal time that I can and will use when I feel it is needed, after giving you and Mrs. Adler sufficient notice, of course." Just as you do, Mr. Robertson, she added internally, meeting his gaze.

Mrs. Adler nodded as Mr. Robertson's glare hardened. "Anything else, Daniel?" Mrs. Adler asked the balding man on her right, who just shook his head in return. "Very well. Thank you for your time, Miss Smoak. We will notify you if we need to speak with you again."

Using the handles of her chair, Felicity pushed herself to her feet and reached over to shake each of their hands. "Thank you," she told them, keeping her smile in place until she was out of the conference room and in the hall. Then she heaved a sigh and stepped into the elevator to take her back to the fifteenth floor.

"How'd your interview go?" Oliver asked Felicity a few hours later. She jumped in her seat, surprised by his and Dig's abrupt appearance.

Oliver was grinning broadly as Dig groaned and worked his right shoulder, rotating his arm in a complete circle. "Huh? Good. What happened with you two today? Bust your shoulder, John?"

"No," the large man ground out through his grit teeth, still rotating his arm. "Played a little racquetball at the country club with Oliver and Tommy. It was supposed to be tennis."

"I'm pretty sure you said golf earlier, Dig," Oliver teased his friend, lips tugged up in a smile. "Maybe we should play more often."

"In that tiny room? No way in hell."

"So you would have preferred tennis?"

Felicity shook her head, grinning. "Wait. How did you get into a racquetball game anyway?"

"He told me it was tennis," Diggle glared at his boss as he dropped into the empty chair next to Felicity, his weight forcing it to drop an inch in height.

"I honestly thought it was going to be tennis. You thought it was going to be golf. Either way, it was also a business deal, and we needed a fourth so we could play doubles."

"I'm guessing you weren't on his team," Felicity nodded toward her boyfriend who had already thrown off his grey sports coat and was heading toward his locker to change. "Judging by the fact that he's actually smiling."

"No, I was on his team. And we won. He's just smiling at my pain."

"Oliver!"

"Head out for the night, Dig. Buy a heating pad to loosen up your shoulder," Oliver told him, tossing him a few bills from his wallet. "We've got a rematch tomorrow, so Tommy can seal the deal. Apparently he's better with women than clients."

"So that's my bonus? A new heating pad?"

"And the racquetball gear I bought you at the pro shop. You'll be getting a lot of use out of it. I'm thinking we should train there once a week. Work on reflexes."

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to that." Diggle picked up the bills from the table before standing, patting Felicity on the shoulder. "I'll see you tomorrow, Felicity. Hopefully you'll have an easier time finding your clothes."

Her cheeks tinted red as her blue eyes glanced over at Oliver to see him smirking. "Thanks. That's been sorted out. No issue."

John grinned as he took the stairs back up to the club. Once the echo of the door closing reached his ears, Oliver walked over to Felicity and turned her in her chair so she was facing him. "How'd the interview go?"

"Good. Eileen liked me. I'm pretty sure. She laughed. My boss not so much. He brought up your visits to my office, said he didn't want you to be a distraction if I got the job. Since it is a big promotion, and I'll be in charge of a team of programmers, and I'll need to be on top of everything they do. Of course this was all after I declared myself the smartest person in the room. Compared to him, I definitely am, but still it's not usually the best way to get a promotion."

Leaning down, Ollie kissed her ruby red lips. "I'm sure you'll get it," he assured her. "And I promise, when you do, I will try my best to need you less."

"Cute."

"Thank you. So, were you able to find anything on Mrs. Blackledge?"

A/N: I just finished this up yesterday, gave it a quick read, and wanted to post it for all of you before I start my vacation. And look at that, it's still July! Woo!

Hopefully, I'll have something to post for you all when I return from vacation at the end of the month. I will be bringing my laptop with me, but I'm not sure if my hotel has free Wi-Fi or not, so I can't make any promises on my next update. Until then, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Arrow. Characters, places, etc. (i.e. everything) belongs to Warner Bros. and DC Comics

Chapter XIV

"How did this happen?" Thea asked aloud, disbelief clearly written all over her face as she watched her boyfriend competing with her brother on the ring toss. This was just ridiculous. Too ridiculous. "You're both acting like idiots." She crossed her arms over her chest and looked to the amused blonde beside her, demanding, "Tell them they're acting like idiots."

"Umm…" Felicity trailed off, her mouth slanted and bright blue eyes rolling skyward as she thought back to the events of the past few months. "Honestly, this isn't that bad. Plus we get prizes. I'm not sure about you, but I'm a big stuffed animal fan. My bedroom's not lined with them or anything creepy like that. I actually had a roommate who did that. I couldn't stand them staring at me. Felt like I was being watched _all the time_. Their eyes would follow me everywhere. Then, before the semester ended, she suddenly became a huge baseball fan and I was waking up to guy's butts every morning. That one I'm not complaining about." Felicity laughed for a second before quieting at Thea's indifferent look.

Shaking her head, Thea turned on her booted heel and walked away. "I'm going to ride the bumper cars. If anyone cares," she called out, dropping her empty soda cup into a nearby trashcan. "Worst date ever."

Felicity couldn't fault the young girl. It'd been a long night, after a very long day, and despite the obvious dose of hot-tempered testosterone, she was enjoying herself. Plus, her boyfriend was absolutely pounding Roy at all the games on the carnival grounds, but she'd had no doubt of that. Her brow knit slightly as she glanced back in the direction Thea had left as she recalled how the younger Queen hadn't seemed to doubt her brother's abilities either.

She just didn't want them competing over everything, and Felicity couldn't fault her for that. This was supposed to be her and Ollie's date night too, and he'd gone alpha dog as soon as he spotted his little sister's boyfriend.

Okay, so the more she thought about it, the more she was agreeing with Thea. Not the best date ever, but still, Felicity had been on worse. There was the one with that guy, Ted Daniels who pretended to work in applied sciences so he could get her to hack into QC files and ended up in the middle of a firefight between him and Ollie before she was unceremoniously pushed out of the broken window. And Daniels wasn't even aware of any connection between her and the Hood to begin with.

Then there was the time Vanch kidnapped her and brought her to Queen Consolidated to electronically clear his name and set him up with a new identity. Granted, her and Ollie weren't officially dating at the time, but it still was not the best night out she'd ever had. So yeah, all things considered, this wasn't the worse date Felicity Smoak had ever been on. Not the best, but not the worst either.

Still… "If either of you is listening, I'm going to ride the bumper cars with Thea. If you care. At all." Nope. Nothing.

Hours earlier, Felicity had still not heard from either Mr. Robertson or Mrs. Adler about the promotion. It'd only been a week. They had a lot of people to go through – including people outside the office. It would take more than a week to go through all those interviews – not to mention remember everyone and why they stood out and had qualities capable for the job.

She'd gone about her work with a business as usual attitude and the week had flown by the same way for the most part, but this Friday had seemed exceptionally slow. Like, watching paint dry slow.

"I'm taking A.J. and Carly to the Fair tonight," Diggle had announced after he and Oliver finished their afternoon workout. "You guys should come too."

"Isn't it set up for the entire weekend?" Oliver immediately pointed out, already lost in research on Elyse Hessington – another big name on the notorious list. "Why not tomorrow? Or Sunday? Tonight's a better night to pay a visit to Hessington."

"Maybe for you, but A.J.'s been looking forward to this all week. He gets to stay up, eat and drink so much junk food he'll bust like a balloon, and he'll probably tire out after a few hours so Carly and I can get some "us" time when we get back to her place."

"So you're going to fill him up with popcorn and cotton candy-"

"Can't forget the soda."

"Candy apples," Felicity cut in smiling dreamily, "I _love_ candy apples. Especially at the fair. They're sweeter and gooier than anywhere else."

"-just so he can tire himself out earlier and you can get down with his mom. Who you don't live with," Oliver added, sending a meaningful look Dig's way.

Dig just smirked. "Never say "get down" again. But yeah, that's the plan."

"Let me know how that works out for you."

"You don't think it will work?"

"I know it won't work. I used to do it with Thea all the time. She always ended up getting hyper – running all over the grounds, which is how she got the nickname Speedy – then she'd get sick, and I always ended up spending the night making sure she didn't blow chunks all over the room instead of with the girl I was trying to impress." Oliver shook his head. "Of course, the points would always carry over to the next date, but still…"

"I'm sure Thea loved being used as a ploy to get girls."

"Why do you think she'd always go running off, wanting me to chase her? She's smart. She knew. I'm pretty sure she used to fake the stomach aches too."

"Well it'll be worth it to spend time with my family. Which also includes both of you." Diggle set his hands on Felicity's shoulders as she smiled up at him. "A few hours wouldn't kill either of you. You've both been stressed all week."

"I'm not stressed," she immediately shot back, clearly a little agitated.

"Of course not. You're always this grumpy in the afternoon." Dig checked his watch and cursed under his breath. "I've got to go and get changed. But if you two change your minds, A.J. and I will be happy to have company."

Oliver watched Felicity stare at the monitors with glazed eyes. She'd thrown a pitiful "Have fun" at Dig as he left, but kept herself facing forward toward her computer screens. Her fingers drew idle patterns across the keys, making a soft scraping sound with her polished nails. Every once in a while, the fingers on her right hand would go to her ear to play with her earing a bit, before it went back to creating meaningless patterns.

Leaning his backside against the table, he tilted his head to the side and stared down at her. "So how was your day?" he asked quietly, pulling her from whatever space she had drifted off to.

Smiling softly, almost to herself, she replied. "Long. Still no word on the promotion."

"Well, there is word. But you strictly forbid me from telling-"

"Nothing! Say nothing! New subject!" she practically ordered, pointing a finger to his chest. Her blue eyes pleaded the opposite. "Tell me _everything_," they cried silently. Pleaded, really.

Oliver smiled softly. "Okay. How about some time away from it all, then?"

Diggle didn't look surprised when he saw them a few hours later, on the carnival grounds, by that time with Thea and Roy, and arguing what ride or game they were going to try next. Ollie and Roy were already well into their my-(stick)-is-bigger-than-your-(stick) competitions and Felicity had her second candy apple of the night, leaving her in a content haze of sugar for the time being, while Thea was exercising her patience and letting "boys be boys".

On the major plus side, Felicity hadn't once thought of the impending promotion for the first time since…Wednesday, if she was recalling correctly.

"I just don't see why they have to act so…immature," Thea told Felicity as the genius caught up with her in the line for the bumper cars. "Especially Ollie. I thought he grew up on that stupid island, and now he's acting like such a – ugh!"

Felicity set a hand on the teenager's shoulder and smiled. "It's just his way of protecting you. I'm not saying it isn't dumb, but the male population basically speaks for itself most of the time," she assured the dark haired girl, motioning to a group of teenage boys throwing soda's at each other and making obnoxious sounds. They both grimaced at the sight.

"I just don't see why he can't give Roy a chance. It's not like I made a huge deal when he started dating you! I was surprised, a little, but it's not like I jumped up and said he was too good for you or threatened your life or anything."

"Yeah, thank you for that."

Thea waved her off. "I'm just saying, when he dates someone, I don't go out of my way to embarrass him, but when I date someone, he goes total caveman."

"No, but up until a few months ago you were also under the influence of drugs. Often. And Oliver…well, he wasn't there for you when you fell into all of that, and he feels guilty about it. He knows what it was like, and I'm sure the last thing he imagined for his sweet little sister was to see her become a mini-former Ollie. This is kind of his way of making sure that doesn't happen."

"I'm never going to be that innocent and naïve again."

"Neither is he. Neither am I. Or Dig. Or Roy. Or anyone over the age of two, really, but it doesn't hurt to want to try and hold onto that sometimes. To remember a better, happier version of you or someone you love."

Thea stopped and looked over at Felicity, watching the blonde's ruby lips curl into a soft, genuine smile that so many people she knew faked every day. They were silent for a few minutes as the line slowly crept forward, the group at the beginning preparing to race to their cars like horses waiting for the opening bang of the next race. Then, the youngest Queen spoke, taking the genius by surprise. "You really are too good for him."

Felicity blinked, her hand reach up to readjust her glasses subconsciously before she abruptly lowered it, remembering she was wearing contacts. "What makes you think that?"

"I'm not the only one that thinks it. He does too. I can tell – the way he looks at you sometimes, like he can't believe you're still there," Thea shrugged as they watched the others in front shoot out to grab a car, allowing the two of them to move up to the gates and prepare for the next ride. "I doubt he realizes he's being so transparent, but I'm his sister. I'm pretty sure I was born with a gene that could sense his moods or something. I just like choosing to ignore it and pissing him off a lot more."

Felicity was absolutely taken aback by the younger Queen's observation. Not even a year ago could she have seen herself with someone like Oliver Queen. Of course, on a very base level she was attracted to him, but to say they weren't each other's type was putting it mildly. Not to mention him being assumed dead and everything. Not that she didn't see herself as _not_ being good enough for him, either. Sure she had more brain than boobs, but that brain knew it mattered more than any amount of silicone enhanced…body parts. And while she was also very, very aware of her, for lack of a more accurate term, verbal diarrhea, there was more that mattered to a relationship than good conversation. Conversation was a good place to start, but it didn't have to be fantastic and witty and roll on and on or anything. It ranked above silicone, for sure, but it honestly it could definitely be ranked below looks since that was the first thing a person noticed about another person and-

Jumping back as Thea snapped her fingers in her face, the teenager rolled her dark eyes and muttered. "You think way too much. C'mon. Almost time for our turn."

"I'm not saying I'm not amazing," she replied casting a quick glance toward the arena where bumper cars were in a duel of strength and power, "or, you know, humble obviously, since I'm basically tooting my own horn of awesome." She pumped a fist up and down as if pulling on the chain of a horn, smiling playfully although she knew Thea was probably think something along the lines of, I'm hanging out with a dork. "But," Felicity continued, lowering her arm back to her side, "I'm clearly awesome in certain areas of life, just like everyone else. With the exception of hardcore criminals and killers, whose high points are being hardcore criminals and killers. Because that's not being awesome, that's being insane. And creepy. Also mentally unstable, in a very bad way, whereas I'm more mentally unstable in an anti-social way.

"Anyway, I'm not too good for Oliver. He's really a great guy and after some of the things he's told me about his time on Lian Yu-" Thea's brow pinched and her lips pursed in interest at that statement, "-it's not hard to understand how he changed so much. _Why_ he had to change so much. I mean, you can read stories about people who are forced to survive, like Robinson Crusoe, and soldiers who have been separated from their units, and old pirate tales, and old comic books, but to hear about it from someone who had to go through it… Even just a tale or two, it makes you think, what would I have done if that were me? Would I have been brave enough to do that?" Felicity shook her head. "I'd like to think I would, but the truth is we don't really know how we will react to things until we've met them face-to-face. And, most of the time, when people comment on what they would do in those moments after hearing of them, deep down they hope they never have to find out."

Thea stared at the older woman in interest, clearly wanting to mention something about what Felicity said. Before she could the bumper cars slowed to a stop and the current riders were allowed to exit the motorized vehicles while a few of the attendants were telling the waiting hoard to ready for the next great race. Instead the teenager's lips pulled to one side in that reckless, don't-give-a-shit half smile of hers and warned, "Get ready to have the awesome bumped out of you," before the gate was opened and the new drivers raced in for the latest round.

Fifteen minutes later, Thea was wincing in disgust as she looked at Felicity's extended and bleeding tongue. "Maybe some ice will help," she guessed as she handed the blonde techie some napkins to try and stop the bleeding. "You can put one of those in your own mouth and I'll grab a cup of ice."

"Ithe would um ith," was the garbled response from the young genius as her eyes rolled skyward and she balled up and set one of the cheap, thin napkins. "I can't buleave I bit mah tawng."

"Really? I heard it happens a lot on bumper cars. Mostly to little kids who aren't used to the impact, so they're like mid-laugh or something then comes the crash and then their teeth…well, obviously you know the magic formula," the brunette smirked before clearing her throat and Felicity's angry glare. "I'll get that numbing ice for you. And see if I can find a doctor or a dentist! Dentist wouldn't care about setting their hands in your candy-coated mouth."

"Ithe nawt wandy-wooted." Felicity grimaced before turning to the trashcan beside her and spit out the wad of spit and blood-soaked napkin before wiping her mouth with one of the many extras Thea had brought. "Ugh…" she groaned before balling up another thin napkin and shoving it in her mouth to soak up the coppery taste of her own blood.

As if her night could not get worse now that there was added bloodshed, her embarrassment increased when she turned around and saw a confused and concerned Tommy and Laurel approaching her, with Thea already far from sight. "What happened?" Tommy immediately asked as Laurel picked up one of the napkins from the stack beside Felicity and wiped at her chin.

Reaching into her pocket, Felicity pulled out her cell phone and immediately scrolled down her notepad. Lightning quick fingers typed _Bit my tongue riding the bumper cars_ before she turned the phone toward them so the concerned couple could read the message.

Tommy's dark brows shot up and he fought valiantly to hide his smile. "Really? I always thought that was an urban myth."

"Tommy," Laurel warned, sending her boyfriend a sharp look, "this could be serious. She could need stiches."

"On her tongue? They do that? There's an actual Tongue Doctor that exists in the world." He held his hands up defensively as both women glared at him. "I'm being completely serious. I have no idea if there is or isn't one."

"My sister had a friend who bit the tip of his tongue clean off while skateboarding back in elementary school. They had to stitch it back on," Laurel informed him before turning back to Felicity, only to see her back. She'd leaned over to once again spit out the over-soaked napkin that had been in her mouth. "Where's Oliver? Did he leave to get the car?"

Felicity took the offered fresh napkin and shoved it in her mouth before turning her attention back to her phone and typing, _He's playing carnival games with Roy. We pretty much went our separate ways._

She watched as Tommy and Laurel's eyes met, sharing a silent communication only meant for the other to understand. After a beat, Tommy nodded before giving Felicity and easy-going smile and patting her shoulder, "I'm going to see if I can find him. I'm sure he'd like to know what happened and if he can help."

Felicity nodded before turning her attention back to her cell and started typing again. _Heard about your run-in with Mr. Horrible. Why don't you like him?_

Laurel's mouth immediately shifted into an angry frown. "Travis Hart?" Felicity nodded. "He's the biggest ass you could ever meet. No, he's more than an ass. He's every bad word in every language. And from what I heard, your run-in was worse than my recent one. He tried to run you over?"

Bright blue eyes rolled up toward the night sky, her fingers already sliding across the keyboard on her phone's shiny screen. _Said he "didn't see me". I'm blonde. That's usually the first thing guy's notice. It may come from a bottle, but still, that seems to make it more noticeable to guys. Then they usually see the glasses and immediately lose one-night-stand interest. Which usually means losing interest altogether._

"Those guys aren't worth the time anyway."

_Truth._

Laurel grinned before grimacing as Felicity spit out another wad of napkin, but this time didn't take another. "I had a friend who had a huge crush on Travis back when we were all in high school," she began as Felicity settled back on the bench. "Travis has always been addicted to speed. Not the drug, just the racing. There's no race he can ever say no to. As soon as you challenge him, he's in, and he's upping the ante. He always has to add to the challenge.

"Well, toward the summer after graduation, Barb became Travis's new lucky charm. And she loved every second of it. She finally got the guy of her dreams, except she didn't see the danger he was putting her in. At first, it was just showing up to his races, being there to cheer him on, but then he started using her as a bartering chip basically. "Winner gets a kiss from my girl", "Winner gets a dance with my girl", and she never outright told me, but I wouldn't be surprised if he ever called out, "Winner gets a _night_ with my girl". All I know is when she told me he was doing that and how uncomfortable it was making her, I told her she needed to tell him that. Cheering on your daredevil boyfriend is fine. Becoming an object that can clearly be thrown away so casually… "End it," I told her. He clearly didn't care about her if he was willing to throw her around like that, but she told me, "No. He hasn't lost. He wouldn't do it if he thought he was going to lose me." She just couldn't see it, and that's why I can't say this was entirely his fault, but…

"Near the end of that summer, Travis decided on a new challenge. He was going to race some idiot blindfolded and Barb was going to be his eyes." Laurel shook her head angrily, her eyes hard and edgy as she glanced away, lost in a bad memory. "He dragged her at some point. Into the car, into bed, I don't know. But when she was in the hospital, there a bruise on her arm the size and shape of his hand and the doctors were clear it was pretty fresh. They'd gotten t-boned by a drunk driver in that race with Barb's side taking the brunt of the hit." Her brown eyes misted over. "She was touch and go for months, her spine was so messed up. She's in a wheelchair now. Her dad tried to sue Hart for damages and hospital bills and endangering his daughter, but no one there that night would say she wasn't willing. Not that it wouldn't do much good either, since pretty much everyone but Travis and Barb were too drunk or high to prove without a shadow of a doubt that Travis was at fault for that.

"It was one of the things she loved about him. He was straightedge and so was she. Of course, coming from different circles of life also meant he had enough money to sweep it under the rug and Barb and the drunk, who had even less to her name then Barb's dad did, were left to lose everything. Not that the woman didn't deserve some penance for what she did either, but Travis Hart deserved his too. Instead he and his family found a price that was agreeable to the bureaucrats and the only people who remember it are the ones that choose to remember it. Like me, and Barb, and her dad."

"Dat's horbible." Felicity scowled at her still-scrabbled words, though the sound of her voice brought a small smile to Laurel's face. "Sowwy. Dis is horbible do."

Laurel bit back her smile before asking, "Bleeding stop?"

"Pwettie swore. I can'd fweel mah twongue anymowe." Her nostrils flared as she went back to typing on her cell. _Can't feel my tongue anymore. Is there any saliva or blood dripping from my mouth? I can't tell._

"No, but maybe so ice or water would be good to help flush it out. Then some cotton balls to soak it up more, since you can't taste anything."

_Yeah. Then I have to get a hold of my doctor. No offense, but a professional second opinion would be helpful._

"Oh no, I agree. First thing tomorrow, do whatever you have to for an appointment."

"She's not going to have to do anything," Thea called as she arrived on the scene, dragging a tired-looking man carrying dark medical bag along with her in one hand, and juggling two cups of melted ice in the other. "He's not a dentist, but he's portable and actually answered when I shouted "Is there a doctor at this fair?" around the grounds. So two pluses outweighing the minus." Turning to the doctor, she nodded toward Felicity. "Miss Awesome here bit her tongue. Take a look."

Felicity and Laurel glanced dubiously at each other before once again looking toward the aging man who gained a bit of pride at Thea's words before he motioned for Laurel to move away so he could sit next to Felicity. Getting to her feet, Laurel moved to stand next to Thea. "She'll still be going for a second opinion," the attorney told the doctor as she and Thea hovered over each of his slim shoulders. "No offense, but a check-up at dark fairgrounds isn't the best place to get a one hundred percent medical opinion."

"Oh, I implore you to actually see your own physician immediately," the graying doctor agreed as he opened his medical bag and pulled out a head lamp and slipping it over his short, salt and pepper hair. "Alright," he switched the lamp on, nearly blinding Felicity as it shined directly in her eyes, "let's see it."

"Naughty," Felicity heard Thea whisper to Laurel. She could practically see the shadows of the young girl smirking and the older woman giving her a dubious stare. The doctor glared at her as she still refused to open her mouth.

"Miss, swallow and open your mouth."

"Shoodant dat go de otha way," she couldn't stop herself from saying and Thea and Laurel immediately guffawed. The doctor just glared before grabbing her chin and lowering his lamp to get a look at her injured muscle. He hummed to himself as he got a look at the area where her two front teeth had nearly met her bottom row through her pink tongue.

"Lift your tongue." She did as he instructed and heard him hum again before he released her chin. She rubbed at her jaw and glared at him, not noticing the shadow that had fallen over them.

"How is she?" Oliver's voice nearly made her fall off the bench in surprise. Nearly because he had swiftly grabbed hold of her flailing arms and righted her. She looked up into his concerned forest eyes, one of his hands already lacing with hers. She squeezed it gently to let him know she was fine.

The doctor just shook his head as he shoved his head lamp back into his medical bag. "She'll live. Bleeding stopped, but it sounds like her tongue is numb. Keep a cup of ice beside you tonight and let it soothe and clean the area. Make sure she sees her regular doctor in the next few days, but other than that she should be fine. You should regain feeling and taste within the next twenty-four hours or so."

"Thunk gu. Gu shood wak on gore beside mayyor," she offered back before giving him a tight smile.

Thea handed her one of the cups of water in her and told her, "That was ice. But you can still rinse and spit. Which is in the correct order, right doc?"

Oliver shook his head as the doctor rolled his eyes and stood up from the old wooden bench. "Thank you, Doctor…"

"Renner," Dr. Renner shook Oliver's offered hand. "It's no problem. I got into medicine for this. Sort of. Have a good night."

As soon as the doctor had disappeared back into the crowd and Felicity had finished cleaning her mouth out with the water Thea had brought her, Ollie started giving their goodbyes. "I'm going to take Felicity home. We'll-"

"Wha'? Oo!" Felicity growled low in the back of her throat from frustration, pulling her hand from Ollie's and reaching back for her phone. _I just need ice. Other than having to do this for the rest of the night, I'm fine to stay. Thea and I were going to the Swing Around._

The crossed her arms over her chest and nodded. "It's true. Then I was going to scare the shit out of your girlfriend on the monkey cages." Felicity glared at Thea at the mention of the Ferris Wheel-like ride with cars that swung back and forth and upside down depending on the speed and the riders. "Besides, she and I would hate to ruin all the fun you and Roy were having. You know, all your male bonding stupidity. In fact, Laurel, you up for a girl's night since it looks like all the guys want to prove their manliness at fixed carnie games?"

Laurel glanced back at Tommy who was cracking jokes with Roy behind her, not even paying the slightest attention to what was being said by the rest of the group. "Yeah, I'm in. Tommy, I'll see you back home."

"O-Whoa. What?" Tommy turned in the girl's direction only to see them already walking away. He glanced at his best friend. "What just happened?"

"They want to hang out tonight," Ollie answered simply. "Hungry?"

"Starving. Steak? Ramone's is still open and it's only a few blocks away."

Oliver nodded. "Sounds good."

"As long as you guys are buying, I'm in," Roy threw in coolly. "Otherwise I'd need a big raise to pay for my portion."

Tommy chuckled. "Nice try. Dinner's on Ollie, though, since he seemed to destroy every game you guys were playing."

Heaving a sigh, Oliver shoved his hands into his jeans pockets. "Alright, let's go." She would be okay, he assured himself as he led Tommy and Roy toward the exit, she was with Thea and Laurel if anything got worse and she deserved to have fun. Especially with how he had been acting all night.

An hour and a half later, the three young women were wheezing with laughter as they exited to monkey cages for the third time that night. "Alright, that time was a little better," Laurel told them as she shook her head.

Thea just doubled over with laughter as Felicity began typing onto her phone. _We know. You nearly made both of us deaf last time._

"Oh, and you weren't freaking out a little this time since we were the only ones on the ride. "Okay, you can let us out now. Seriously. It's been five minutes. Six!" How did you even know how much time had passed while we were on that damn thing anyway? We were spinning so much and for so long I couldn't tell whether down was up or up was down."

"The point is, you're both babies," Thea declared as they walked toward the exit.

_Riding that rickety thing three times hardly makes us babies._

"No, but Laurel screamed like a newborn almost every time we rotated back toward the ground."

"We looked like we were going to crash. The cage always tipped forward like it was going to drop us right out."

"And Felicity had her eyes closed most of the time."

_If I didn't, I probably would have thrown up over everyone. Heights and I are not a good combination. Add spinning to that and everyone would need new clothes._

"Whatever. She probably knew how long we were up there because she was literally counting the seconds and doing the math to convert those seconds into minutes in her head. Every time."

Laurel let out a low whistle. "Are you sure you want to stick with computers? I know many people, including myself, who could use a better accountant."

"She's getting promoted soon. She's totally sure."

"Really? Congratulations!"

_It's not official_, Felicity typed and held out for them to read.

Thea scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Please. I've visited the IT Department at Queen Consolidated. You're a million miles ahead of everyone."

_They're also looking outside of QC for the position._

Laurel shook her head. "No, I'm with Thea. Whatever it is, you can more than handle it. How was your interview?"

_Good. I'm pretty sure. I haven't heard anything since the interview, really. In fact, I came out tonight to forget it. Subject change please?_

"Okay, fine," Thea helped her out, smirking up at Laurel. "Felicity moved into the mansion."

Laurel grinned. "Really?"

"Well, she was sick what a month and a half ago? Still there as of tonight. And our work clothes are getting mixed because of it. I say it's time to find a place of their own. I've got us," the young Queen held up her car keys as she nodded in the direction she had parked. "I'm legal again. Don't worry. Anyway, Roy and I have already talked about it. We're both trying to save up more, and agreed we wanted to at least pay first and last month's rent on our own, without the aid of the Queen fortune, which is why I asked you for more time at CNRI. Any word on that yet?"

"Well, now that I know why you need the extra work, of course I'll slide some your way. Good for you and Roy," Laurel wrapped an arm around Thea's shoulders and gave her a light squeeze. "Felicity, good for you and Oliver too. It's obvious how much he cares about you. Sharing any space with him on a permanent basis is a big step. Trust me."

_Thanks. Kind of busy for apartment hunting of our own though. With work and possible promotions it's not something we've even discussed._

"Yeah, but he's jumping head first with you. Especially since you guys have taken a step away from the spotlight. Plus, with your _definite_ promotion, and Tommy and Ollie already discussing expanding Verdant, it makes sense that you don't have time to look for a new place. Just make sure you keep time for each other. There's nothing more important than that."

Felicity blushed. The moment they had stepped away from the spotlight was almost the same moment their romantic relationship became real. It wasn't part of the job or helping out a friend anymore. It was – is – real, and so great and so…natural. Yes, there was effort that both she and Ollie had to put into it as every couple did, but the truth was, they slipped into this phase as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Work was work, vigilante time was vigilante time, and the moments in between that they spent together were fairly common, boring by his pre-Island standards, but momentous all the same.

Watching TV and movies, reading sections of the paper in bed, talking about their day and their past, beating him at video games, calling up the other to ask about dinner…

It was so…normal.

The word felt odd, even in thought. Felicity had never had a normal moment in her life. Not really and especially not lately.

After they'd dropped Laurel off at her apartment and made it back to Queen Manor in one piece, Thea had immediately gone to bed while Felicity raided the kitchen for more ice to numb her mouth. Ollie had texted her when he'd left Tommy and Roy to let her know he was going on patrol and while she'd wanted to head to Verdant to link up and at least back him up wirelessly, Thea and Laurel weren't going to let her out of their sight. They probably would have taken her possible excuses as, "Uh-oh. She's in pain. Call an ambulance. That doc was a quack." And she was also having fun and controlled excitement of her own. An adrenaline rush that didn't come with worry or fear that people she cared about were about to get hurt.

After filling a bowl with ice and grabbing an Oreo Klondike bar, she went up the stairs and into Oliver's room and settled at the desk she had taken as her own. Flipping up her laptop with one hand and slipping on her wireless headset, she opened up the foil wrapper of her ice cream bar and settled in for a long night. "Hawing twubble?"

From his place on the rooftop across Elyse Hessington's offices, the Hood smirked. "In need of some proof to throw the police's way. She didn't seem to take me too seriously."

"I can tik car of tha."

"There's no one better."

A/N: I am very sorry for the long wait. Real life entered the picture early in this chapter and I totally lost my place early on. I'm sure it's probably obvious where, but I hope you enjoy this chapter all the same.

Still, I hate keeping all of you amazing readers waiting for so long, and I was trying to think of ways to keep you all up to date while I'm writing up chapters when my friend told me I should start a tumblr account. So this past weekend, that is exactly what I did (and my sister said "FINALLY!"). You can find my tumblr url on my profile. I plan on posting previews of upcoming chapters and stories over there to whet your appetites while you're waiting. Ask is also open for questions, comments, or suggestions about anything. Arrow, Olicity, comics, tv, movies, music, etc. So, I'm going to give that a shot and we'll see how it works out!

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! And for those in the States, I hope this helps cap off your possibly long weekend. Thanks for reading. Please review.


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